Once Upon an Early Morning
by CecilieKim
Summary: Kate does the interview, but Ana comes along for moral support. While Kate is interviewing Mr. Grey, Ana runs into the other Grey brother, Elliot. And the two immediately click but what will happen. This is an Ana&Elliot story and will have a HEA
1. Chapter 1: Call Me Ana

Ana POV

I can't believe I let Kate talk me into this. But then again I can. She could talk a damn corpse back to life, which is how she got this interview with some business mogul to begin with. An interview all the way in Seattle, which I'm coming to, to provide support and entertainment. I should be studying for my finals right now, but now I'm spending hours driving with Kate all the way to Seattle, to stay for like an hour for an interview and then drive all the way back. I should know how to say no to Kate by now, but despite having lived with her for 4 years, I still can't say no when she gives me the puppy eyes and pout. And she knows it.

"Thank you so much for coming with me Ana. I seriously can't thank you enough!" Kate is so energetic right now, she's like that bunny from the battery commercial. I can't even think of the name right now, I'm way too tired. Sitting up late studying for my finals and then getting dragged to Seattle by Kate so early in the morning, is not a good combo for me. I'm not a morning person and never have been.

"Oh my god!" Kate squeals. "Look we're here! Oh my god the building is so much bigger than I thought it would be" Okay big, doesn't describe this building, it's huge!

"Are you sure we're in the right place, Kate?"

"Yes of course, look it says 'Grey House'" She is pointing towards the entrance of the building and she's right, it does say 'Grey House'. Wow, this is a very impressive building, and one person owns it. I've been listening to Kate talk about this Mr. Grey guy for months, and from what I remember he owns the entire company.

Leaving the car, I can't help but be mesmerized by the building, so much that I almost trip over my own feet. Another typical thing for me.

I walk beside Kate when we enter the building and follow her to the receptionist, an immaculately dressed blonde.

"I'm Katherine Kavanaugh, I have an appointment with Mr. Grey at 9:30 am" Kate is, of course, confident as can be, compared to me, who is been feeling extremely insecure since stepping inside the building.

"Of course ms. Kavanaugh, here is your visitor's badge, take the elevator to the 20th floor and Mr. Grey's PA will be there to escort you"

"Thank you," Kate says. Turning away from the desk. I wish Kate good luck with the interview and go to the waiting area and sit on one of the couches. They only have various business magazines on a stand but thankfully, I always bring a book with me.

After about 10 minutes, I'm still on the same page. So I decide to go across the street to a coffee shop and get myself a cup of tea and maybe a blueberry muffin. I texted Kate letting her know where I'd be when she finished.

There were plenty of open tables, so I ordered myself a cup of English Breakfast tea and a blueberry muffin, and picked a table by the windows.

I lose myself watching all kinds of people out on the street, that I don't notice the man coming towards my table.

"Excuse me. Do you mind if I sit here, all the tables are taken?"

I look over and see the most handsome man I have ever seen. I look around and that indeed all the tables in the coffee shop have become occupied.

"Of course, have a seat," I tell him. While seating himself, I take the opportunity to look him over quickly. He has blonde beach wavy curls and beautiful ocean blue eyes. He has a muscular body and a lightly tanned skin.

"Hi, I'm Elliot Grey," he says while reaching his hand across the table.

"Hi, I'm Anastasia Steele but call me Ana," I tell him while shaking his hand. The second our skin touch, I get tingling feeling spreading from fingers throughout my body. Our eyes immediately lock and I blush profusely. We are both silent and just staring at one another until a chair loudly scrapes across the floor somewhere in the coffee shop, breaking our eye contact.

"You wouldn't happen to be related to Raymond Steele, would you?" He asks me.

Uhm yes, he's my dad. How do you know him?" I ask him.

"I have a meeting with him next week for a custom-made staircase," He answered.

"Oh, what do you do for work?"

"I have my own construction company, Grey Construction,"

"Wow, that's very impressive," I tell him. We continue talking about his company and he asks me about college and what I'd like to do after I graduate.

We are interrupted by my phone ringing with Kate's personal ringtone. Oh shit, I have no idea how long I have been sitting here. I pick up my phone and shoot Elliot an apologizing glance.

"Hi Kate,"

"Hi Ana, are you still at that coffee shop?" Kate sounds upset and like she's trying to keep from crying.

"Yes, but I'll be right there and meet you by the car" I start getting up and gather my things.

"Okay thanks, I just want to go home,"

"Okay see you in a minute,"

As I try to stand, Elliot quickly gets up like a gentleman and helps me up.

"I'm sorry I have to leave so abruptly but my friend needs me and we need to head home as well,"

"It's quite alright. I hope your friend is gonna be ok"

"She will be, don't worry" I assure him.

"Ana, I know we just met and all but is there any chance I can see you again?" He asks.

I've never really been on many dates, I always kept my focus on my studies. But Elliot has brought up feelings I've never really felt before in the short time I've known him. And the thought of not seeing him again leaves me with a cold and sad feeling.

"I'd love that," I smile shyly at him and a blush spreads across my cheeks and I catch my bottom lip between my teeth.

We quickly exchange numbers and he promises to call me. And I silently pray that he actually will.

I hurry to Kate's car so I can figure out what happened at the interview to leave her so upset.

Kate is already sitting in the car when I get there so I get into the passenger seat. She is no longer crying but it's evident that she has been. Kate gets the car moving right away and doesn't say a thing until we reach the interstate going back to Portland.

"What happened Kate?" I ask her.

"He was so horrible! It was like he was disinterested and just giving me robotic answers. So I went for the gay question to try and get some kind of damn reaction out of him and he completely flipped out. He forbid me to even publish the article. So now the graduation issue is completely ruined" she all but wailed at me, tears starting to trickle down her cheeks again.

"I'm so sorry Kate! But the issue won't be ruined, you'll figure something out, you always do."

"I know, I just can't believe I blew it... This would have been major for my career"

"You'll have plenty of chances to get ahead in your career, you already have the job with the Seattle Times lined up," I tell her encouragingly.

"Thanks Ana, I really don't know what I would do without you"

We spend the rest of ride singing along with the radio and talking about our upcoming graduation.


	2. Chapter 2: Laters Baby

**Author's Note:**

 **Thank you so much for all the positive response to the story! I'm so honored. And thank you so much to all those who have reviewed my story, I can't even put into words how grateful I am. Please keep it up! Enjoy!**

Ana POV

We made it home in good time as the traffic was light and Kate, due to her mood, was laying a little heavy on the gas.

We go to our separate rooms as we both have plenty of studying to do and Kate also has to figure out a plan B for the graduation issue of the school paper.

I had two finals left this week before it was time for graduation next week. Both were subjects I felt fairly secure in, so I wasn't too nervous about either. At 5:30, I decided to take a break from studying and cook us both some dinner. While making the sauce for Kate's favorite lasagna, I felt my phone vibrating in my back pocket, I feel my pulse quicken in hope that it's Elliot. Getting my phone out, I see that it's an unknown number so I quickly accept the call.

"Hi," I excitedly say.

"Hi Ana, it's Paul," Great... It's the younger brother of my boss Mr. Clayton. He's been asking me out every time he's in town for the past few months and despite my constant declining, he doesn't seem to get it.

"I was just wondering if you had any more shifts at the store before the big move to Seattle?" he asks me.

"Uhm... Yes, I have one shift left," I answer him, purposely leaving out when that is, in the hopes that he won't be there.

"Great! Then we'll see each other soon, I have a little goodbye present for you," Oh no... Now I really wish I could avoid my last shift at Clayton's Hardware but I know Mr. & Mrs. Clayton have arranged a little goodbye gathering for me, so I could never get myself to not show up after all they've done for me through the years.

"Oh... Well, I guess I'll see you then. I gotta go, bye Paul," I hurriedly say and hang up on him. I sigh knowing I won't get out of seeing him.

I finish up the sauce and put together the lasagna and put it in the oven to finish. I go knock on Kate's door and let her know dinner will be ready in about 30 minutes,

"Hey Ana come in here," I hear Kate's muffled voice through the door. I open the door and see Kate sprawled out on her bed with her laptop and tons of books, notebooks, and miscellaneous papers spread out around her.

"So I got an interview with another businessman from Seattle who is also a big contributor to the university, a Mr. Lincoln of Lincoln Timber. A lot of his funds go to the English Department so I was wondering if you would answer a few questions on how his funds have helped English majors,"

"Of course anything to help," I offer, still feeling bad for her after what happened today.

"Great, I've scheduled the interview with him on Friday as I have to finish the article by Sunday. So I was thinking I would talk to you on Thursday after our last exams since I know you were going to head to Montesano on Friday to see your dad before the ceremony next week, is that okay?" She asks already having the whole thing planned out.

"Yes, it sounds fine. Are you still planning a huge night out for Thursday?" I ask her, knowing that this interview could be my way out.

"No but don't worry, I've talked to everyone and we've moved it to Monday night, that way we can also celebrate the graduation issue of the paper coming out. And we'll still have two days to recover for graduation on Thursday, so it's perfect!" she says excitedly. Of course, she already has the entire thing planned out to perfection, such a Kate thing.

"Great," I say, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Come on Ana! We're graduating. We have to celebrate!" Kate squeals while jumping off of her bed to grab me and start twirling me around in the middle of living room. I can't help but join in on her laughter and silly dancing.

Our dancing and horrible singing mixed with laughter are interrupted by the ringing of my phone, I'm so excited hoping that it's actually Elliot this time, that I practically leap for my phone laying on the kitchen counter.

"Hello," I say slightly out of breath from dancing and running for the phone.

"Hi Ana, it's Elliot... Uhm from the coffee shop," he sounds a little nervous, which is surprising since he seemed so confident this morning.

"Hi Elliot," my voice slightly breathy. Damn Ana, get yourself together. I can feel my cheeks heating up under the blush that has no doubt taken over my face. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Kate gaping at me with wide eyes probably from hearing me talking to a man, that she doesn't know, and the blush starring my face, which is getting deeper under her stare.

"I'm glad you haven't forgotten me already" he slightly chuckles, already sounding much more confident than he did a second ago.

"I hope you had a good drive back to Portland and that your friend is okay," he continues.

"The drive was fine, traffic thankfully wasn't bad and Kate will be fine, she's already found her next victim to interrogate," I laugh. I can still feel Kate's eyes boring into my skull while I purposely try to ignore her.

"I'm glad. You had your last final on Thursday right?" he asks.

"Yes that's right, I finish at 3 pm," I tell him.

"Great. Would you like to go out to dinner Thursday night then?" he asks all hopeful.

"I would love to Elliot," I tell him not even bothering to hide my excitement.

"Great, I guess I'll see you on Thursday, although I'll definitely talk to sooner. Now I'm guessing you're probably studying for your last finals, at least from the little I got to know you this morning," he teases.

"Hey! Don't make fun of me"

"I would never make fun of you, I like that you're actually smart! It makes it possible to have an actual conversation about other things than the Kardashian sisters and shit" he says. I can't help but burst out laughing. I remember Kate talking about the reality show 'Keeping up with the Kardashians' but it's never really interested me.

"Girls actually talk about stuff like that on dates?" I ask giggling.

"Oh god yes, you would not believe some of the painful conversations I've had to endure sometimes. It's horrible," he chuckles. God his chuckle practically makes my knees buckle.

"Anyways I'll let you get back to your studies. Laters baby," he says.

"Bye Elliot," I laugh.

The second I hang up the phone, Kate is all over me, asking me who I was talking to and how she knew nothing about him. Fortunately for me, she is interrupted by the oven signaling our dinner is ready, therefore giving me at least a little extra time before the Kavanaugh inquisition begins. We eat in relative silence as we're both starving from studying all day as well as our travels this morning.

Kate pounces on me as soon as we're finished with the dishes and putting away the leftovers.

"Okay, no more stalling! Now, who is Elliot? And how do I not know about him?"

"His name is Elliot Grey and I met him this morning at the coffee shop while I was waiting for you to finish up the interview with that business mogul. All the tables were taken, so he asked if he could sit at mine, and we just started talking," I tell her.

"Wait! Did you say, Elliot Grey? As in the brother of Christian Grey, the asshole I interviewed this morning? As in the manwhore of Seattle?" Kate exclaims.

"I guess," I say quietly, suddenly feeling very insecure and mostly wanting to bury myself under my comforter.

"Oh, honey I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that. You know how it is, gossip is always exaggerated and it probably is in this case as well," Kate says, obviously trying to make me feel better.

"So did I hear right, that he is going to take you out on Thursday after your last final?" Kate asks, trying to steer the conversation away from what she just revealed to me. But it's not helping. All I can think about is the fact that Elliot is the brother of Christian Grey, a self-made billionaire and that he is known to be a manwhore. While I, little Annie Steele, is still a virgin at 22 years old and comes from a modest family. We are from two completely different worlds and I'm feeling even more anxious about the date than I was before.

"Yeah, Thursday," is all I can manage to tell Kate.

"I'm going to go study some more before I go to bed. Night Kate" I mumble before disappearing into my bedroom closing the door behind me.

I decided to just take a quick shower and then get under my comforter to try and get some sleep.


	3. Chapter 3: ET

Ana POV

It's Thursday, and I've just finished my last final, the last final I will ever have to endure. As much as I love to learn and read, I can't wait to get out of having to cram for tests and finals anymore and to read the books I want to, when I want to.

Elliot and I have texted every day, I considered canceling the date and even wrote the message but I couldn't get myself to press send. I already have pretty deep feelings for him as well as a connection I can't explain. I also haven't had the guts to talk to him about what Kate said about him, I tell myself it's because I'd rather do it face-to-face but it's mostly because I'm dead scared of the answer I might get.

Kate and I have kept all talk on graduation and our move to Seattle completely avoiding the subjects of Elliot and dating. I've actually tried to avoid her as much as possible as I'm still trying to figure out why she said what she did. Or at least the way she went about it. The only reason I can think of is that she still had some residual feelings from her disaster morning interview with Elliot's brother and she took it out on me. It still feels a little extreme for Kate but she does have a horrible habit of speaking before she thinks.

As I was walking to my car, I turned my phone back on seeing a text from Elliot. Seeing his texts always made me laugh as he still texted like a teenager, apparently, he started doing it to annoy his brother and then it just became a habit.

 **Elliot: Hope ur last final went well, pls let me know. Can't w8 to c u ;-) L8rs baby**

 **Ana: It went really well! I'm so glad it's over though, no more cramming and late night studying :-D Can't wait either, still not giving me any clues as to the where?**

 **Elliot: Nope, no more clues Ana Banana. Am abt to board my bro's chopper so I'll be in Portland in abt an hr. L8rs baby**

Apparently, Elliot's brother had business here in Portland today and Friday, so Elliot had decided to hitch a ride with him, although he hadn't told me it would be in a helicopter.

 **Ana: You're flying here in a helicopter?! Let me know when you land. Fly safe E.T.**

After Elliot took to calling me Ana Banana, I had decided I needed an affectionate nickname for him as well. Kate and I had seen the movie E.T. just last week, so when I found out Elliot's full name was Elliot Trevelyan Grey, I decided on E.T.. Elliot, of course, thought it was hilarious and is absolutely loving the name.

I arrive at the apartment and take a deep breath before going inside as I know Kate is in there and I have no reason to avoid her anymore. Opening the door, I see Kate is on the couch with her laptop in her lap. She looks up when I come in, I know she wants to talk but she also knows I'm not particularly happy with her at the moment. She's letting me control what happens next, which is pretty unusual for her but I take it as a sign that she regrets what she said the other night. I also know I have to talk to her, as I promised to help with the interview by answering some questions and despite our issues at the moment, I don't want to risk ruining this for her.

"Hi Kate," I say trying to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Hey Ana, so how did your last final go?" she asks me.

"It went well, how about yours?" I ask her trying to be polite.

"I think I did good, thanks," She answers.

Great... We're back to awkward silence. Chewing on my bottom lip trying to decide what to say but end up just getting straight into it.

"So do you still need me to answer those questions on how funds have helped English majors?" I ask her.

"Are you sure you still want to? I mean, I completely get it if you don't want to do it anymore," She says nervously.

"Of course I will, you're my best friend and I'm here for you," I tell her, genuinely not wanting to lose our friendship.

Kate's entire face lit up like the 4th of July, obviously, she's been worrying about the state of our friendship.

"Thank you so much and again, I'm so sorry about what happened! I need to learn the whole think-before-you-speak thing and I promise to control it better," Kate rambles.

"Thanks Kate, I appreciate it, now let's get started so I can get ready for tonight," I tell her with a genuine smile on my face, hoping this is us returning to our usual friendship.

"Okay let's go sit at the kitchen table, I'll just go get my recorder and notes," She says excitedly while running to her room to presumably get her things. While she got her things ready I made a cup of tea for myself and a cup of coffee for Kate.

We finished our little mini-interview just as Elliot texted me, letting me know he had arrived in Portland and was driving to the Heathman Hotel where he'd be staying with his brother. I thanked him for letting me know and told him I'd see him soon when Kate asked me about tonight.

"Do you know where he is taking you tonight?"

"No, he won't tell me what we're doing only to dress dressy casual," I tell her.

"Well, then let's start getting you ready for tonight, you need to look smashing!" she tells me. This is the Kate I know and love and she made her reappearance at the perfect moment.

"Okay let's go!" I tell her. We run to my room and while I take a quick shower, Kate starts going through my closet to try and find the perfect outfit for my date night. Coming out of the bathroom with my hair wrapped in a towel and wearing my favorite plush bathrobe, Kate immediately pushes me back into the bathroom to do my hair and makeup.

"Okay blow dry your while I go get my curling wand," She says walking out of my bathroom to go to her room. I quickly finish blow-drying my hair and Kate starts curling my dark hair with the wand and then we start on my makeup. Thankfully she agreed with me, that I should go with a natural look so it doesn't take too long to finish. We move back into my room and start going through outfit choices.

I try on multiple outfits both jeans, skirts, and dresses but end up deciding to wear jeans. I'm gonna be nervous enough as it is and I'll feel way more comfortable in jeans than in anything else. We are trying to decide on what top I should wear when my phone beeps with an incoming text.

 **Elliot: A lil tip, wear comfy shoes ;-)**

Comfy shoes? What the hell was this guy planning?!

 **Ana: Comfy shoes? What is your definition of comfy shoes?**

 **Elliot: Shoes u can stand to walk around in**

 **Ana: Are you really not going to tell me what we're doing? Pretty please :-)**

 **Elliot: Sorry Ana Banana but its a surprise, maybe u should look up the word in the dictionary u clearly dnt understand its meaning**

 **Ana: haha very funny E.T. see you soon**

 **Elliot: Very soon, I'll b there in 30**

"What is he saying?" Kate asks me, obviously having figured out who I was texting probably because of the smile on my face.

"He said to wear comfy shoes that I can stand to walk around in," I tell her.

"Okay, I've got it. Hold on!" She says as she is walking out of my room, leaving me looking as confused as ever. She comes back a minute later with a gift-wrapped box, making me even more confused.

"This is actually part of your graduation present from me but I think it'd be perfect for tonight, so open it," she says while handing me the beautifully wrapped present.

"Are you sure Kate?"

"Absolutely! Now hurry before he gets here," she says, all excited.

I open the present and see a beautiful cobalt blue top and a fitted black leather jacket. I quickly put it on and it fits perfectly, the blue color along with my makeup are making my blue eyes pop. Kate hands me my black ankle boots that I quickly put on.

"It's perfect!" Kate squeals as I go over to look at myself in the mirror and I can't help but agree with her.

I check my phone and see that Elliot will be here any second so I quickly put my phone and other things into a small purse I'm borrowing from Kate and go join Kate in the living room.

I can tell that Kate wants to say something to me but she is interrupted by the ringing of our door phone.


	4. Chapter 4: Date Night

**Author's Note:**

 **Here comes the date chapter! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. This chapter is way longer than the others as I felt this chapter was a bit more special. Would you guys prefer longer chapters (probably not as long as this) with an update once a week, or 1500-1700 word length with an update every 3 or 4 days? Let me know! And please review and let me know what you think!**

Ana POV

I hurry over to answer the door phone, effectively stopping Kate from saying whatever it was she wanted to say.

"Hello," I say.

"Hey Ana Banana, are you gonna let me up?" Elliot asks me through the phone.

For some reason, I feel apprehensive at about Kate meeting Elliot. Maybe it's because I'm afraid she'll go on another rant about him or his brother or maybe it's something else. Either way, I decide to meet Elliot downstairs.

"I'll be right down," I answer him.

"Bye Kate, have a good night," I tell Kate as I open our apartment door and leave down the two flights of stairs. I go down the stairs as fast as I can in boots without falling, which considering my clumsy nature is quite difficult.

Elliot is standing right outside the door to the building looking as handsome as ever. He is wearing fitted black jeans with a dark blue button down and black leather jacket. Combined with his panty-dropping smile, I can practically feel my knees go weak.

"Hi beautiful," He says kissing me on the cheek when I join him on the sidewalk.

"Hi El," I say breathily. Damn me and my inability to stay cool at times like this. Although, I'm glad it seems like Elliot appreciates my outfit as I can see him looking me up and down just like I did with him. I can feel my face heat up under his stare and I know I'm sporting a major blush right now.

"Are you ready for the first part of our evening?" he asks me.

"As ready as I'll ever be" I smile shyly at him.

He leads me towards a black Audi SUV which doesn't seem like the kind of car Elliot would usually drive.

"Excuse the car, I had to use my brother's and he refuses to drive anything other than these big monstrosities," He says with a smile, mocking the car which I'm sure has cost a fortune.

"So what do you usually prefer to drive then?" I ask him while he helps me into the passenger seat.

"I've got a big Chevy pickup truck, and I just got a Lexus LC 500 sports car," he tells me with a glimmer in his eyes obviously loving his cars. He closes my door and moves around to the driver's door and get in. He is driving us towards downtown when he asks a question I'd hoped wouldn't be brought up.

"So any reason I wasn't allowed upstairs?" He asks me with a smile that tells me he is merely curious.

"Uhm my roommate had a... Strong reaction to me going on a date with you," I tell him while sneaking a peek at him.

"Oh oh that doesn't sound good," he chuckles, trying to make a joke of it but I can hear it's fake and that he's truthfully nervous. I'm not sure how to ask him about what Kate said without sounding like a gossiper, thankfully he takes the reins.

"So what did you she have to say?" he asks me.

"Well... She pretty much hates your brother because of the interview and uhm... something about you being... uhm a manwhore," I whisper the last part. I'm practically chewing off my bottom lip right now, nervous about his reaction as well as his answer.

"Of course she did" he mutters leaving me confused and if possible, even more anxious.

"Okay first, most people either try to kiss my brother's ass, or they hate him so that's nothing new to me. As for the whole me being a manwhore, it's a rumor that's been around since I was about 23. I was very close with a group of friends from college and I still am. Two of them are a lesbian couple, one night when we're out I was dancing with both of them, we were all wasted but you know having a great time, goofing off. Anyways some journalist from the Seattle Nooz was there and took a bunch of pictures. The next day I was splattered all over the gossip rags and the internet. Since then every time I'm seen talking to a girl even when girls approach me, it's documented by some random person and written off as another conquest for me. I mean I'm not saying that I'm virgin or anything but I'm most definitely not, what I've been made out to be by the gossip rags," he tells me with an earnest look on his face.

"But why would people even care if you were going out with a new girl every night?" I ask confused since he's not a movie star or anything but a business owner.

"My entire family is part of the so-called upper class in Seattle and my parents run a charity foundation, so they like to write about us sometimes. Plus I had just started profiting from my business back then and my brother was opening his company," he explains. We pull into a parking at one of Portland's best Italian restaurants. Kate's father Eamon took us both here when we finished our freshman year to celebrate us finding an apartment together for our sophomore year.

Elliot parks the car and gets out to open my door and help me out.

"My lady," he jokes as he takes a bow for me with a Cheshire grin on his face. It immediately lightens the air around us from the otherwise tense talk in the car.

"Dear Sir," I laugh as I make a curtsy. Elliot leads us towards the restaurant with his hand on my lower back but I stop, which in turn stops him.

"Thank you for telling me," I say to him with an earnest look on my face hopefully showing him how grateful I am for him being so open about everything.

"I'm just glad you gave me a chance to explain, it's not exactly the best impression to make on a girl," he says giving me his million dollar smile. We continue to the restaurant. The host greets us as we come in and the second Elliot drops the Grey name, we are immediately shown to a table despite the line by the door. I guess the power of the Grey name also works here in Portland. We are seated in a more quiet corner of the restaurant.

"Do you like wine?" Elliot asks me, as our waiter is here for our drink order.

"Yes, but I know nothing about it, so you can just pick something," I tell him with a small smile. He orders a bottle of red and some water, which I'm thankful for as I'm as lightweight as they come.

"So you know a lot about wine huh?" I ask him, as he seemed to know exactly what he wanted when I gave him free reins over the wine.

"Actually no, but my brother is. We had a family dinner here about a month ago and this is wine he ordered and it was really good, so I figured it'd be a safe bet," he chuckles. We both start looking over the menu, so we are prepared for when our waiter comes back.

"So what are you going to get?" he asks me.

"I'm thinking the pasta with chicken, what about you?" I ask.

"I'm going to go with a steak," he says. Just as he finishes his sentence, our waiter brings our bottle of wine and our water. As he is pouring my glass of wine I can feel his stare on me, I try to ignore it by looking over at Elliot, who seems to be both annoyed and amused at the same time by the behavior of our waiter.

"Are you done staring at my date or are you going to make a bloodbath at our table?" Elliot asks our waiter as my wineglass is about to spill over with red wine. The waiter immediately stops pouring the wine and mutters an apology while practically running from our table. I look over at Elliot and the second our eyes make contact we both burst out laughing. My wineglass is filled to the rim and I'm a little nervous for the first sip and just pray I won't spill.

"Well let's have a drink over that" Elliot laughs and picks up his glass, I pick mine up carefully and we cling glasses even more carefully.

"Cheers, for a good first date, with hopefully more to come," Elliot says.

"Cheers!" I say with a big smile balancing my overly filled glass. I manage to take a sip and put the glass back down without spilling, which for me is a big deal!

A new waiter comes over to take our orders. Elliot asks me about school and my upcoming graduation and I ask him about the charity his parents run, that he told me about earlier in the car.

"It's called 'Coping Together', it supports single mothers who come from abusive relationships, substance abuse, and poverty," he tells me.

"Wow, that sounds like a great cause," I tell. We continue talking as our dinner arrives. The talk is minimal as we're both enjoying our dinner immensely. I'm really enjoying Elliot's company, I'm completely relaxed and comfortable with him unlike how I usually feel around other guys like Paul even with Jose, I still keep him at a certain distance. As our waiter comes around to collect our empty plates, he asks we are interested in some dessert, which Elliot immediately declines and asks for the check. The waiter comes back with our check and Elliot immediately pays and gets up from his chair to come around and help me. I look at him a little confused as we leave the restaurant, which he seems to read right away.

"We have more places to get to which include dessert," he chuckles obviously impressed with himself, which in turn makes me laugh at his silliness.

We get back into the car and start driving away from downtown.

"So are you going to tell me where we are going?" I ask, genuinely curious about what else he has planned for us tonight. From Kate's many dates, I know they usually consist of movie and dinner.

"Nope, you're going to have to wait and see Ana Banana," he grins, he is absolutely loving this. We are pretty far out from the city center when I see what looks like a carnival and I wonder if that's where we're going as I can see nothing else around.

"Is that where we are going?" I asked pointing towards the carnival.

"Or are you taking me out here to kill me and bury my body" I joke.

"Sorry I'm merely taking you to the carnival not quite as much excitement as option number 2," he jokes. We both get out of the car and Elliot leads me over to the entrance with his hand on his my lower back, I can feel the heat from his hand spreading throughout my body from where it rests. Elliot is telling me about how his parents used to take him and his siblings to the carnival when they were younger and how it was one the few times, he really felt like his brother was having fun and they really connected as brothers.

"This was one my favorite things about going to the carnival," he tells as he drags me to a concessions stand that makes funnel cakes.

"Is this the time to tell you, I've never had a funnel cake before?" I ask him looking over at him. His face is frozen in shock and I can't help myself so I start laughing at him. He looks like a five-year-old who just lost his favorite toy.

"You've never had a funnel cake before?" he finally gets out.

"No," I laugh.

"Okay, we are getting one right now, there is no way we're ending this date without you trying some funnel goodness," he says as he goes up to the disk and orders one with chocolate sauce and a drink for each of us.

"Here you go," he says handing me one of the waters. I'm secretly glad that he got us some water as I can still feel the effect of the wine we had at dinner.

Our funnel cake is ready after a few minutes and we go to sit down at one of the tables.

"So what games are you going to try?" he asks me.

"Oh, I'm not. I'm no good at any of these games, they demand some kind of coordination which I don't have" I laugh. We finish our funnel cake, which I have to admit is pretty amazing, and start walking around. Elliot steers us towards the games, he's obviously not going to give up on getting me to play something.

"Come on, choose any game you want and we'll try it," he says with childlike excitement in his voice.

"How about you choose one and I promise I'll try it as well," I say. We might as well play a game he loves since I'll do horribly no matter what we choose.

"Okay but you have to play the first game, deal?" he asks reaching his hand out for me to shake.

"Fine but you have to promise not to laugh," I say shaking his hand.

"I promise," he says with a glint in his eye, which I'm sure means he's going to be laughing his head off in a few minutes. He takes my hand and leads me to the basketball hoops.

"Two games, please," Elliot says to the man running the booth as he gives him the money for the game. The man sets five balls in front me and wishes me luck, and all I can think is I'm going to need it.

"You're up Ana Banana," Elliot says. I go pick up my first ball and get ready to make my first throw.

"Remember no laughing E.T.," I warn him and then take my first shot, which doesn't even touch the rim. I look over at Elliot and I can see right through him. He is desperately trying to hold his laugh and so far he's managing but I'm not sure he'll be able to for four more shots. I continue taking my shots but I'm really not good at this, Elliot has actually succeeded in holding his mask but I can tell he's struggling. I have one shot left and I'm determined to get it in. I'm really taking my time for this and it pays off. I throw the ball and it's spinning around on the rim, it could fall either way but thankfully it falls into the hoop.

"You did it, baby!" Elliot yells and picks me up, spinning me around while I'm laughing my head off with my arms around his neck. Elliot eventually puts me back down and the man in booth hands me my mini-price, a bottle of soap bubbles. But I don't even care, I'm just excited that I managed to make a shot.

Elliot hands me his jacket and gets ready to make his shots. I'm not even noticing if his shots are going in, I'm too busy staring at the way his muscles move under his shirt. Damn, he really does look magnificent, I can't help the tingling feeling I get where no other person has ever been, so try squeezing together my thighs. I focus back on his game, or I might not be able to control myself. He has made all the shots so far and is just missing the last one, he takes the shot and it's like time slows down as the ball goes right through the hoop.

"Oh my God, you did it!" I squeal like a school girl as I jump into his arms, Elliot thankfully catches me and spins me around again.

"I can't believe you actually did that," I say as he puts me down.

"I used to play in High School and I still play sometimes with my buddies," he tells with a boyish grin on his face, he's obviously pleased with my reaction to his game. We are interrupted as Elliot is asked to pick a price from the top shelf, which is filled with big plush toys. Elliot tells me to pick the one I want and my heart can't help but skip a beat. I pick the big beaver and Elliot looks very confused at my choice.

"Can I ask why you picked the beaver?" he asks me as we're walking away from the booth.

"I'll tell you someday," I tell him, thinking he shouldn't be the only one with a few surprises today.

"Fair enough, so another question. Your father is obviously very coordinated considering his job, so how is it that yours is so bad?" he asks me chuckling. I realize I haven't told him much about my family situation.

"Well, he's actually my stepdad. My biological father died the day after I was born in a car accident. My mother, Carla met Ray a few months later and when I was one they got married. Ray adopted me when I was four or five. He could never have kids on his own due to an injury when he was younger, so he's always treated me as his own daughter and he's always been my dad. About a month before my seventh birthday my mother left us, leaving only a letter saying she wanted a divorce and that Ray could keep me," I tell him.

"She just left you?!" Elliot asks sounding very angry.

"She was never really the mother type and I think she resented me for Ray picking me over her. She was never really there when I was a kid, she did her own thing and just left me with Ray all the time, so it didn't really change much when she actually left for good," I tell him honestly.

We keep walking around when I spot a shooting booth.

"Okay, this is one of the few things my dad managed to teach me," I tell him as I drag him towards the booth by his hand.

"You shoot?" he asks incredibly, his eyebrows nearly disappearing into his hairline as he pays the man in the booth.

"I guess you'll see," I say picking up the gun. I take my stand just as Ray taught me and take my aim. I don't miss a single shot and as I put the gun back down on the table I look over at Elliot and he's just staring at me with wide open eyes and mouth gaping.

"Watch out, you don't want to catch flies," I say as I put my left hand under his chin, closing his mouth.

"That was so hot!" he says still looking stunned by what just happened. We are interrupted by the man asking _me_ to choose a price this time, so being the feminist I am, I give Elliot the choice just as he did with me when he won.

"Okay, I'm going to go with the wolf," he says. I'm curious about his choice and even ask him about it but he just repeats the same thing I told him when he asked me about the beaver.

We continue walking around hand in hand and I still can't help but be amazed at how relaxed and comfortable I am around Elliot, nor can I believe some the feelings he's awoken in me.

We start walking towards the car as it's getting pretty late. We are both pretty quiet as we're driving back towards my apartment but as we park outside my apartment building, we both start talking at the same time and end up laughing.

"You first," I say giggling.

"I had a really good time tonight and I hope you did as well," he says.

"I did El, it was amazing and I had so much fun. Plus I really love my beaver," I tell him giggling again as I cuddle my Beaver toy.

"Does that mean you'll let me take you out again?" he asks leaning over the console a little.

"Hmm... Let me think about that," I joke.

"Hey!" he says.

"I'd love to," I interrupt him leaning towards him.

"I'm glad," he says leaning in even more. I can feel my heart pounding faster than it ever has before and I wouldn't be surprised if Elliot could hear it. He leans in the last few inches and after what feels like forever, his lips finally touch mine. His lips are soft but firm at the same time, he's taken control of the kiss but I'm more than happy to let him have it. His tongue caresses my lip, begging for entrance, which I happily give him. Our tongues are dancing, what feels like an erotic dance together. One his hands are on my lower back pulling me closer while the other is in my hair. I have one hand on his chest, loving the feeling of his muscles beneath his shirt while my other hand is around his neck playing with his curls. He groans as I start playing with his curls and I can't hold back my own moan.

We break apart to catch our breaths, our foreheads touching and staring into each other's eyes.

"I should probably head up," I tell him even though that's the last thing I want to do right now.

"Right and I should probably let you," he chuckles. He gets out of the car and comes around to open my door.

"Can I call you tomorrow?" he asks me hopefully as he is walking me to the door.

"Anytime," I say giving him a quick peck on the lips and enter my building making my way up the stairs.

I open the door to the apartment and see that it's dark, so I just head straight to my room. I quickly get undressed and into my bed cuddling with my beaver. I fall asleep with a smile on my lips, thinking about ocean blue eyes and beach blonde curls.


	5. Chapter 5: Breakfast

Ana POV

Waking up, I'm in a great mood and feel more refreshed than I have in a long time. I get out of bed, put on my bathrobe and go into the kitchen to start the kettle for my morning tea, as well the coffee machine for Kate's morning caffeine jolt. I'm looking through our fridge trying to find something for breakfast when Kate makes her morning entrance.

"Morning," Kate mumbles. She's never been a morning and she doesn't really come alive until she's had her morning coffee. I pour her a cup of coffee and a cup of tea for myself.

So when is your meeting with Mr. Lincoln? I ask her now that she's had a sip of her coffee.

"It's at 10 am down at his lumber yard," she says. I am about to answer when I hear my phone go off so I hurry and go get it. I see that it's Elliot and quickly push the answer button.

"Hello," I say.

"Hey Ana, my brother and I are going out for breakfast here now, and I was wondering if you wanted to come?" Elliot asks me sounding super excited, which I found a little odd considering he told me, he wasn't a morning person.

"Are you sure you want me to join you? I know you don't get to spend a lot of time with him,"

"Of course I do, and he's actually the one who invited you," he tells me. This was a surprise though, as Elliot told me his brother usually tried to keep to himself.

"Really?" I ask incredibly

"Yes. Now, will you please come? Don't make me get down on my knees and beg,"

"Hmm. That doesn't so bad, but I'd rather be there in person when you do it," I tell him giggling.

"Does that mean yes?" he asks.

"Yes, when and where?" I ask him.

"I'll pick you up in 40 minutes, okay?" Shit, I need to take a quicker than quick shower and get ready.

"Okay, see you soon E.T.,"

"Very soon Ana Banana," he says and hangs up. I sprint into my bathroom and take a quick shower. Then I go get dressed and return to the bathroom to dry my hair and put on a little mascara.

"Ana, are you going to come out and make some breakfast?" Kate yells impatiently from the kitchen. I just need to put a few things in my purse and then I'm ready, so I head out into the kitchen with my purse in hand.

"No, Elliot invited me out for breakfast with his brother, so you'll have to get yourself something," I tell her feeling a little put out that she makes me feel like her own personal chef.

"You're going out with Mr. Asshole?" she sneers.

"Seriously Kate? I thought you were over this. This can't all be over the interview with Elliot's brother, so what is it?" I ask her feeling anger bubbling to the surface. I usually had a lot of patience and understanding when it came to Kate but this whole thing was ridiculous. There had to be something deeper than the interview.

"It is because of the interview and because of what I've heard about Elliot. I mean you're not experienced, and I don't think you know what you're getting yourself into. That whole family will railroad you, Ana! I think you should get out while you still can," She says but I can tell she's lying. She has never been good at lying to me because she can never look me in the eye when she does it.

"I know you're lying Kate. Why don't you take the weekend and get your head straight? I will leave for my dad's place before you get back from the paper this afternoon," I tell her just as our door phone goes off. I go get it and tell Elliot I'll be right down. I open our front door but turn around before I leave and tell Kate good luck and that I'll see her Monday afternoon.

I hate that Kate has ruined my mood right before my breakfast with Elliot and my first time meeting his brother.

Elliot is standing outside the building waiting for me again and I can't help but think of last night's date, which brings a smile to my face right away and lightens my mood considerably.

"Hey baby," Elliot says with his signature smile that makes my insides melt.

"Hi," I say walking over to him and he immediately gives me a lingering kiss on my cheek, making me blush bright red. A man with a buzz cut steps out of the car from the driver's seat and comes around to open the backseat door for us. All I can think right now is 'what the hell?'.

Elliot takes my hand and steers me to the car while whispering in my ear.

"That's my brother's CPO and right-hand man, Taylor," I simply nod in response, not sure what else to say.

Elliot helps me into the car and then gets in after and I'm met by who I assume to be Elliot's brother, the infamous Christian Grey.

"You must be Anastasia Steele," he says not unkindly, his grey eyes piercing right through me. I have a weird feeling like I've met him before or that he's at least familiar but I can't place it, so I try to push it aside.

"Yes but please call me Ana," I tell him reaching out my hand for him to shake. He seems surprised by the gesture but immediately shakes my hand.

"Call me Christian," he says with a look I can't quite analyze.

"It's nice to meet you, Christian, Elliot has told me a lot about you," I say with a smile.

"It's nice to meet you too Anastasia," he says with a smirk, that I'm sure is a reaction to _my_ reaction to Anastasia.

"So where are we going?" I ask

"IHOP," Both brothers say at the same time, making Elliot and I laugh while Christian just smiles and shakes his head a little.

We don't talk much during the ride but it's a comfortable silence. My head is laying on Elliot's shoulder while he is playing with my fingers. Christian is typing away on his phone probably getting some work done, from what Elliot has told me he works all the time and rarely works less than 14 hours a day. Hence why he doesn't spend much time with his family.

We arrive at IHOP and Taylor once again opens our door so Elliot can get out and then me and Christian. Elliot and I are holding hands as we walk to the restaurant, and Christian is walking further behind talking discreetly with Taylor. There are few people inside so we pick a table in the corner giving us as much privacy as you can expect in a place like this.

An older woman comes to take our order and while I just get the buttermilk pancakes, the men are getting both pancakes and waffles. I can't believe they can actually eat all that.

"So what's so special about IHOP?" I ask them, having noticed they both seemed very excited to be here when they were ordering their food.

They both looked at one another and crack a smile, but it's Elliot who answers me.

"When we were little and our mom was away for a medical conference or something, our dad would always take us to IHOP for breakfast. It was our little secret even though mom apparently always knew about it, but we all still pretend to this day that it's a secret between us and dad," both he and Christian chuckles when he finishes telling me the story.

"So I understand you're graduating on Thursday correct?" Christian asks me.

"Yes, that's right. I'm graduating with a bachelor in English lit,"

"Congratulations. What are your plans for when you're done?"

"I'm moving to Seattle with my best friend Kate Kavanaugh. I've applied to several publishing houses up there and have a few interviews set up as well,"

"When is it that you guys move, baby?" Elliot asks me.

"Well, the plan is to move our stuff next weekend before Kate goes to the Bahamas with her family for a few weeks,"

"I'll come down and help you with the move, I can probably get a few of my guys to come help too," Elliot offers.

"Thank you, that'd be great. Kate's brother Ethan and our friend Jose are also coming to help but the more people, the faster we can hopefully get it over with," I say giving him a peck on the lips.

"You're welcome, baby,"

We finish our breakfast mostly in silence, only doing a little small talking here and there. We pay for our meals and head back out to the car. We are driving back to my apartment and I'm feeling a little sleepy from all the pancakes.

"Baby, are you still planning to drive to your dad's place today?" Elliot asks me.

"Yes, I just need to pack my things and then I'll go. When is your meeting with my dad?"

"It's on Monday at 9 am," I smile at that, knowing I'll at least see him on Monday then.

"Then I guess we'll see each other again on Monday. I'm not leaving until noon or maybe a little later," I tell him.

"Can't wait, Ana Banana," he whispers, placing a small kiss on my neck.

We arrive at my apartment and thankfully Kate's car isn't here, so I know for sure that she's out.

Elliot gets out and then helps me out of the car. I say a quick goodbye and good-to-meet-you to Christian before I leave the car. Elliot walks me all the way up to my apartment door since I don't have to worry about Kate.

I'm standing with my back against door and Elliot is leaning into me pushing me into it.

"Have a good weekend with your dad Ana Banana, I'll see you on Monday," he whispers into my ear, I can't help the shiver that spreads along with goosebumps. This man has some kind of wicked power over me and I absolutely love it.

"I will. I can't wait to see you Monday though," I say placing a kiss on the corner of his mouth. He quickly turns his head and catches my mouth with his, our tongues dancing. The kiss is getting really hot and I can feel his erection poking into my stomach, making me even wetter. God, I don't want to let him go, but I desperately need oxygen. I break the kiss and Elliot starts kissing my neck moving up to my ear, kissing a spot that makes me go crazy, I can't control the moans coming from me. He presses a final kiss on my pulse point before pulling away slightly, looking into my eyes with his ocean blue ones.

"I gotta go or I won't be able to leave,"

"I know," I say breathily.

"Laters, baby," he says as he pulls away and goes back down the stairs. I remain outside my door for another few seconds trying to put myself together after what just happened.

I eventually go in and pack my bags for the weekend and then head out to my car, good old Wanda, and make the drive to Montesano to see my dad.


	6. Chapter 6: Daddy Dearest

**Author's Note**

 **Thank you guys so much for all the faves and follows as well as the reviews! You have no idea, how much it means to me, so please keep it up!**

 **Hope you enjoy this new chapter.**

Ana POV

I arrived at my dad's house and put all my stuff in my old room before going searching for him. He lives near a lake so he could be out fishing, or he could be out in his workshop, working on one his many orders. Ray used to be a marine, but when he married my mother, he decided to get out and started working as a carpenter in a big company. After a few years, he decided to open his own shop specializing in custom-made wood furniture. He built his own workshop on the same land as their house, so he could still spend a lot of time with me when I was younger. I used to love going out there as a little girl and watch him work.

His business really took off the year I went to college. He'd made a piece for a well-known family in Seattle, and word quickly got around that he'd been the one to make it.

I find my dad in the workshop, putting a finishing touch on a beautiful bookcase.

"Hi dad,"

"Annie, you're here! It's so good to see you, sweetheart," he says coming over pulling me in for a bone-crushing hug and a kiss on top of my head. It's something he's always done, and I absolutely love it! It's something that always reminds me of home.

"It's good to see you too dad,"

"I'm almost done out here, and then I'll be in. An hour tops, promise!" he says.

"That's fine, dad. I'll make us some lunch and some tea," I tell him, knowing exactly who I got my tea addiction from.

"Sounds good Annie," he says, giving me a kiss on the forehead sending me on my way.

I go back to my childhood home and head straight into the kitchen. My dad always makes sure to stock the fridge when I come home to visit. He can cook maybe 3 dishes and one those is microwave dinners. Every time I come back for a visit, I always cook lots of meals that I freeze and then my dad can just pop them into the microwave.

I make some subs for lunch and go into the living room to look at some of the pictures from my childhood. My dad always loved taking lots of pictures, saying he didn't want to risk ever forgetting anything. I suddenly see an old photo, that I remember having seen before but never really looked at. It's an old photo of my mother as a teenage girl and another teen girl. One with grey eyes. Grey eyes I was looking at earlier today. I'm holding the photo when my dad comes in.

"God, I'm starving, sweetheart," he says coming into the living room, after realizing I'm in the kitchen.

"What do you have there?" he asks me.

"It's an old picture of mom. Do you know who the girl next to her is?" I ask him, feeling like there is something I'm missing.

"That's your mother's older sister. I think her name was Ellaine or something. Your mother never talked that much about her; apparently, she ran away from home at 15 or 16," he says shrugging his shoulders.

"I have an aunt?" I ask shocked. I always thought I had no family. My mother's family was dead before I was born, and my mother always said my biological father's family didn't approve of her, so they disowned him when he married my mother. Ray's parents were the only grandparents I've ever known, but they died when I was a toddler.

"Technically yes, but like I said no one knows what happened to her after she ran away. Come on, let's have some lunch, those subs look super tasty," Ray says trying to end the conversation on a more positive note.

I put the frame back down and go get our subs, so we can eat out on the terrace, that way we can enjoy the sunny weather which is usually a rarity. While we eat, we talk a little about graduation and my move to Seattle next week. He asks if we need assistance moving all our stuff, but I tell him we have plenty of help.

"I thought it was just going to be you girls along with Jose and Kate's brother Ethan?" he asks suspiciously. I have never had to explain a guy to my dad, so I have no idea how to do this or if I even should. I mean we've only been on two dates. But I also know, I could never lie to Ray. I tried a few times when I was younger, but he always saw right through me.

"Well... Elliot and some of his friends are helping us as well," I blurt out.

"And who is Elliot?" dad asks narrowing his eyes. He's giving me his 'you're-not-getting-out-of-this' face. I'm chewing on my bottom lip like I was a starving woman, a sure-fire sign that I'm nervous.

"He is a guy that I've been on a few dates with. His name is Elliot Grey, and he is actually from Seattle," I tell him nervously, feeling a little like a teenager.

"Elliot Grey? As in Elliot Grey of Grey Construction?" He asks not giving anything away.

"Yes, you have an appointment with him on Monday," I tell him.

"Yes, I know. How did you meet him though?"

"Remember Kate was interviewing a big businessman in Seattle for the graduation issue of the paper?" I ask

"Yes,"

"Well, I went with her as moral support and hung out at a coffee shop while she interviewed him, and I ran into Elliot there, and I guess we hit it off," I tell him.

"Hit it off huh? Well, I can't wait to meet him on Monday. I'll have to make sure he is good enough for my little girl," he says with a glint in his eye. Oh God, I hope he lets Elliot live.

We clean up after lunch and dad goes out to do some more work, promising not to work the rest of the weekend. I head outside on the terrace again, armed with my favorite book _Tess of the D'Urbervilles_. The second I get comfy on the bench, I hear a ping from my phone alerting me to a text.

 **Elliot: Did you make it to Montesano in one piece? :-)**

 **Ana: Yes I did. My dad and I just finished lunch, and I just settled down with a book outside.**

Instead of another text, he calls me.

"Hello," I say a big smile already present on my face from just texting him.

"Hi baby, so why am I not surprised that you've already got a book out?" he laughs.

"Ha - ha - ha, very funny. Did you get back to Seattle or does your brother still have more business in Portland?" I ask.

"We are back in Seattle. Turns out he finished his business early yesterday, so we left for the helipad right after we dropped you off,"

"I still can't believe your brother has a helicopter,"

"He flies it himself too," he tells me, sounding like a proud older brother. I'm completely shocked.

"He can fly it?!" I, practically, screech. Elliot, of course, starts laughing, thoroughly enjoying my shock.

"So I have to tell you something," I say, remembering that I just told Ray about Elliot and that I should probably warn him before he meets my dad on Monday.

"Oh oh, what is it this time?" he chuckles trying to keep the mood light.

"I kind of mentioned you to my dad... He was asking if we needed help with the move next week, but I told him we had plenty of help. And then he said, he thought it was only Ethan and Jose, so I told him you and your friends were helping, and he wanted to know who you were," I babble on and on, nervous about what he is going to say.

"And what did you say about who I was?" he asks, I can practically hear his jokester smile through the phone.

"Uhm... I told him your full name and that we've been on a few dates. He asked if you were the one he had an appointment with on Monday, and I said yes,"

"Ah, so am I getting the 'you're not worthy-of-my-only-daughter' talk?" he asks, sounding a tad more nervous than just seconds before.

"Something like that," I tell him. I have to admit that I'm loving him suddenly being all nervous.

"I guess, I should bring my bulletproof vest for our business meeting on Monday then," he jokes making light of it, but I can still hear a slight edge to his voice.

"Don't worry his bark is usually worse than his bite," I joke feeling much lighter.

"Usually?"

"Well I _am_ his only daughter," I say giggling.

"Very true, and you're pretty damn amazing Ana Banana," he says with such affection, I'm sure he can feel the heat from my blush through the phone.

"You're not so bad yourself E.T.," I say sincerely.

We continue talking and I invite him to come out with all of us on Monday night, which he happily accepts. I also invite him to stay at our apartment so he doesn't have to book a room somewhere.

I've completely lost track of time as I see my dad coming towards the house, I say goodbye to Elliot and that I'll see him on Monday. Then I quickly get back into the house and start on our dinner. I had planned to make Chicken Parmigiana with homemade garlic bread, so I quickly get started.

Dad comes into the kitchen after he's showered and tells me about some of his current and upcoming projects. Apparently, he has been asked if he wanted to donate a custom-made piece of furniture for a charity auction in a few weeks, which he has accepted.

We are mostly quiet as we eat, but it's a comfortable silence, one I recognize from growing up. Dad cleans up after dinner, which has always been our tradition since I started cooking most of our meals. I head into the living room and turn the TV on, flicking through channels while I get comfortable on the couch under a blanket Ray's mother made.

At about 10:30 pm dad goes to bed and I decide to head up to my room as well. Just as I'm about to walk up the stairs, I turn back to the living room and quickly get the old photo of my mother and her older sister.

I still can't get it out my head, especially the common features between Ellaine and Christian. I know that Christian is adopted just like Elliot but that's all I know and I really can't get myself to google him, but I also don't know how to ask Elliot about it.

I'm trying to fall asleep but I just can't get settled. Eventually, I manage to fall asleep, but it's not a peaceful sleep.


	7. Chapter 7: Meeting of the Minds

Ana POV

My dad and I had enjoyed our weekend together. I even indulged him by getting up early on Sunday and going fishing with him.

It's 8:45 am on Monday morning, and Elliot could be here any second. Ray went out to the workshop at 8 am to draw up some ideas for Elliot, and I'm sitting on the porch waiting for Elliot to arrive. I'm hoping to sneak in a little hello before he meets with my dad. A big black pickup truck pulls up, and Elliot gets out, dressed in what I assume to be his usual work outfit. A pair of jeans along with a dark grey long-sleeved shirt that says GREY CONSTRUCTION.

I get out of my seat on the porch and walk down to Elliot, he's already seen me and meets me halfway.

"Hey baby," he says shooting me his signature smile, which in turns makes me blush furiously.

"Hi El," I say shyly, desperately trying to tame my blush.

He gives me what is supposed to be a brief kiss but quickly deepens it. I can't help but smile into the kiss.

We are interrupted by the clearing of a throat. More precisely, my dad clearing his throat. I quickly pull away, and if possible, my blush deepens even more.

"You must be Elliot?" Ray says, face completely impassive.

"Yes, sir. I'm Elliot Grey," Elliot says confidently putting his hand out to shake Ray's. Dad looks at with scrutinizing eyes but reaches his hand out to shake Elliot's.

"Yes, Annie has told me about you," he says not unkindly.

I'm happy to see that Elliot isn't cowering under Ray's stare, while I'm giving my dad the death stare, trying to get him to quit it. Apparently, it's not working. Just as I am about to say something to break the tense air around us, dad suggests he and Elliot go to the workshop and discuss business. I just want to scream NO. I mean, the man keeps power tools out there. Elliot, of course, agrees and they head over to the shop, I suggest I'll bring them some coffee when dad reminds me that he has a coffee machine out there, so it won't be necessary. Great...

I go back into the house and settle down on the couch with a cup of tea and a book. All I have to do now is wait.

Elliot POV

Following Ana's dad into his workshop, I feel like I'm about to enter the lion's den, but I try to appear confident as looking like a nervous teenager, won't get me anywhere. We step inside the workshop, and I'm seriously impressed. You can tell he has taken great interest and care in building it and what materials he used. Along with all the top grade machinery and tools I can see.

"So what are you doing with my daughter?" Mr. Steele asks point blank.

"Mr. Steele, I"

"It's Ray, not Mr. Steele or Sir, no reason age me early," he says with the first smile I've seen aimed at me today from this man.

"Ray, I like your daughter very much! She's an exceptional woman, and I am very lucky that she's giving me any time of the day," I tell him, trying to express how I feel about his daughter.

"You're right; she is exceptional. So why do you think, you're good enough for her?" he asks challenging me.

"I'm not," I say straight, genuinely feeling like I could never deserve her. She is unlike anyone I've ever met before; she has this air about her that draws me in completely.

"But I want to be the kind of man who is good enough for your daughter. I may not have known her long, but I'm sure you know how amazing she is, after all, you raised her," I tell him.

"Yes, I did. Which is also why, when she told me about you, I looked you up and did a little research on my own. You have quite the reputation Elliot," he says looking at me with scrutinizing eyes, probably trying to analyze my reaction to his statement.

"Yes, I know of the rumors that are out there about me and my personal life. It's also something I've talked about with Ana, and I knew there was a possibility that you would know and I'd have to explain it," I tell him, really hating those damn rumors. I explain everything to him as I did with Ana that first night, desperately hoping that her father will believe me. One of the things I've learned about Ana, is that she's a daddy's girl and loves her father very much. If he doesn't approve of me, I'm not sure where I stand when it comes to Ana.

When I finish telling him about everything, he stays quiet and has a thoughtful look on his face. I can feel my heart practically beating out of my chest, and I feel like I'm about to start sweating bullets any second now.

"You can stop looking so nervous, son. I like you, you seem like a good guy, and that's all I want for my Annie. But if you ever hurt her, you answer to me," he says with a dangerous look in his eye. If there was any doubt before now, Ray Steele is not a man to cross especially when it comes to his daughter.

Our tense and slightly scary talk over, we continue with the original purpose of our meeting. Ray has some incredible ideas for the staircase I need, and I can't wait to see how it turns out when it's all done and put into place.

Ana POV

It has been over an hour since they went into the workshop. I've had four cups of tea and eaten my way through most of my dad's Reese's cup stash. I'm too anxious to actually focus on reading my book, so I turned the TV on, but even that hasn't been able to hold my attention. Which is how I ended up raiding my dad's stash of Reese's cups. He knows they're my favorite as well as my choice of comfort food, so he always makes sure to stock up on them for when I come home.

Finally!

After an hour and a half, I can hear voices coming towards the house. They both sound relaxed and friendly from what I can hear, so hopefully, their little talk went well, and Elliot is still in one piece.

My dad comes through the front door followed by Elliot; they're both laughing about something, leaving me feeling very perplexed.

"Hi sweetheart," my dad says kissing me on top my head.

"Hi dad?," I said questionably.

"I see you found the Reese's cup stash, is there anything left?" he asks laughing at me.

"Nope," I say, totally unashamed. He knows how I get when I'm anxious and how many peanut butter cups I can put away.

"Damn Ana Banana! I think you might have broken my sister's record when it comes to these," Elliot says with a smile as he points to the wrappers left on the coffee table.

"Oh, this is not even her record Elliot! That's one thing you should always remember; **NEVER** run out of Reese's cups, it's for your own safety and sanity and try to keep an emergency stash, that she doesn't know about," Ray says, sharing a little bit of wisdom about Ana.

"You have a secret stash?" I ask my father accusingly while mentally going through all the possible hiding places around the house and the workshop.

"One you will never find, Annie," dad says, grinning like a loon.

We make a little small talk when dad announces that he's going back out to the workshop to do some work. I promise to come out and say goodbye before I leave for Portland.

"So what did you and my dad talk about?" I ask, my curiosity getting the better of me.

"Oh you know, this and that," he says giving me his panty-dropping smile.

"Oh come on! Please tell me," I whine. This earns a chuckle from Elliot.

"Well we did talk about our favorite girl, but that's all I'm telling you" he whispers into my ear and catches my earlobe between his teeth before kissing my neck. I can't help the moan that escapes, and Elliot quickly moves to my lips his tongue begging for entrance, which I immediately give. The man is irresistible after all. I pull away a little in desperate need of some oxygen.

"I actually have to get back to Seattle and do a little work before I come to Portland later," he whispers slightly out of breath.

"Okay. I should probably get back to Portland, catch up with Kate and everything," I say all breathy.

"I'll be at your apartment around 9 pm, baby," he says giving me a quick kiss.

I follow him out to his truck, and we have another goodbye kiss before he gets into his car and drives back to Seattle.

A few hours later, I'm back in Portland. As I enter the apartment, I don't see Kate around but I can hear music coming from her room, so I walk over to her door to say hi.

"Oh hi Ana, how was your weekend with Ray?" She asks happily. She has clothes thrown all over her room, probably trying to find an outfit for tonight.

"It was good, it was nice to spend some time with him," I tell her.

"That's great, I'm glad you had a good weekend," she says smiling.

"Yeah, anyways I invited Elliot to come out with us tonight, I hope you don't mind," I say kindly, hoping it won't start another drama.

"Oh, you did? He's actually going to drive all the way from Seattle, just to go to the bar with us? I mean, it's going to be a long drive for him to go back and forth," she babbles.

"Yes, he is. But he's going to stay here tonight, so he won't have to drive back and that way he can have something to drink as well," I tell her.

"You said, he could spend the night?" she squeaks.

"Yes," I say, not being able to help the blush from her insinuation.

"Uhm okay..."

"Do you want to start getting ready together?" I ask, knowing it's something she loves and it might help turn her mood around.

Kate squeals and quickly guide me into my room and the bathroom with orders to take a shower and then she'll do my hair and makeup.


	8. Chapter 8: Thank You ET

Ana POV

We order some Chinese food for dinner, I make sure to order some extra food in case Elliot wants some before we go to the bar. Kate has made her famous margaritas that we are drinking as we are eating the food at the coffee table.

"You really like Elliot, don't you?" Kate asks me suddenly with a face I can't read.

"Yes. I do," I say sincerely.

"Do you think you are gonna have sex with him tonight?

"Honestly, I don't know... I mean, I want to, but I don't know if it'll be tonight," I tell her honestly. I know that there is going to be quite a lot of alcohol flowing around, and I don't want my first time being while I'm drunk out of my mind.

After we finish our dinner, we quickly get dressed and do a few finishing touch-ups. At 8:45, our door phone goes off, I go pick it up right away.

"Hello?" I say.

"Hey baby, it's me," Elliot says, I can already feel my breath quicken slightly.

"Come on up El," I say pushing the button to unlock the door to the building.

"Elliot is on his way up," I yell to Kate. Kate makes some kind of sound or grunt to acknowledge that she's heard me, but I choose to ignore it. I hear the knock on the door, telling me Elliot is here, so I hurry and open our door.

"Hey baby," he says kissing my cheek.

"Hi El,"

"So I finally get to see your place huh?" he says with one arm around me and our faces only an inch or two apart.

"Third time's the charm, right?" I say all breathy.

"Yeah, I guess it is," he whispers into my ear, pulling me further into the living room.

"We saved you some food in case you were hungry and hadn't had time to eat," I say, pointing to the food on the coffee table.

"mmm a woman after my heart," he says digging into some cashew chicken.

"I'm just gonna go get my purse, and then I'll be back, okay?" I say giving him a peck on the lips. He just nods as his mouth is filled with food.

I quickly get a small black purse and pack my essentials; phone, keys, wallet, and lip-gloss.

I go back to the living room, and Elliot has already managed to devour all our leftovers.

"I guess you were hungry after all," I giggle.

"I'm always hungry Ana Banana," he chuckles.

"Let me just go check if Kate is ready,"

I go to Kate's room and knock on the door asking if she's ready to get going.

"Yeah I'm ready, and the taxi just called, it's downstairs," she says coming out of her room, looking a little apprehensive.

"Are you okay, Kate? I whisper to her.

"Yeah, fine," she says, but I can tell she's not honest.

We go into the living room to meet up with Elliot. This is a moment I've been nervous about since Kate's first outburst.

"Kate, this is Elliot. Elliot, this Kate, my roommate and best friend," I say introducing them to each other. Kate looks like she's about to either pass out or throw up. And Elliot looks up with wide eyes like a deer caught in headlights.

I look questioningly between the two of them, coming up with all kinds of scenarios in my head.

"Uhm... Nice to meet you, Kate," Elliot finally gets out, looking mighty uncomfortable.

"You too," Kate mumbles.

"Okay... Let's get going, the taxi is waiting," I say, just wanting to get out of here as quickly as humanly possible. Kate goes first and practically runs down the stairs. Elliot and I walk hand in hand down the stairs after I've looked our door.

"So what was that about?" I ask him quietly.

"I'll tell you later, promise!" he says, giving my hand a comforting squeeze.

I let it go for now, and we get into the backseat of the cab. Kate has chosen the passenger seat, something she usually never does. I'm not sure if it's to avoid me or what.

We arrive at the bar, and Elliot quickly pays for the taxi before Kate or I have the opportunity. Kate hurries out of the car and heads into the bar to meet up with everybody. Elliot and I get out of the car and start walking towards the bar, but Elliot pulls me to the side outside.

"I'm not really sure how to say this," he says awkwardly, one hand scratching the back of his neck.

"Hey, relax," I say, caressing his cheek trying to get him to calm down.

"I've met Kate before, although I didn't know her name at that time. I think it was about a year ago, we met at my brother's club in Seattle. I was out with a few guys from work when Kate came over to our table. She was very flirty, practically throwing herself at me. I turned her down and made her leave our table. Later when I went to the bar to get us some more drinks, she came up to me again. If possible, she flirting even more, obviously not taking 'no' for an answer. I managed to make my escape back to the VIP area, where she couldn't get in after we had already warned security there about her. When we decided to leave, so did she and she managed to get into the same elevator as us, and she actually threw herself at me. She pushed me against one of the walls and jumped on me, kissing me, dry humping me. My friends had to help me get her off,"

"Wow!" I say, barely able to get my head around what he just told me. I can't believe this. I've seen Kate all over guys before although usually they're just as into it as she is. Her outburst about Elliot suddenly makes sense though. She is used to always getting the guy and me usually being ignored. But Elliot had turned her down. Multiple times. And yet, he asked me out.

"I don't know what to say," I tell him, looking up into his ocean blue eyes.

"You don't have to say anything, Ana Banana. It happened, and there's nothing to do about it. Now let's go in so you can enjoy your last days as a college student," he says with a smile, pulling me into the bar filled with students.

I can see my friends at the booths in the corner, so I steer Elliot by the hand towards them.

"Hi guys, this is Elliot," I tell them as we get to the table.

"Elliot, this is everyone," I say smiling gesturing around the two tables. Elliot greets everyone before whispering in my ear that he'll go get us something to drink. I just nod and ask him to get me a margarita. He smiles and disappears into the crowd to head to the bar.

There is only room at the opposite table that Kate is sitting at, so I go sit over there, secretly happy since I have no idea what to say to her. Jose quickly moves over to my table, he tries to get the seat next to me, but I've put my purse down to save the place for Elliot. Jose realizes that I'm not going to move my purse, so gets in on the other side of the booth.

"So who is Elliot? I've never seen him around before," he asks me with an edge to his voice.

"He's not in college," is all I manage to get out before Elliot takes his seat next to me and puts down a drink in front of me.

"Who is not in college?" he asks, apparently having heard what I was saying.

"You aren't," I smile.

"No, thank god for that! I never liked homework," he laughs.

"So how long have you two known each other? Can't be long, Ana has never mentioned you," Jose says sounding a little offended.

"We've known each other for about a week," Elliot says with a huge smile on his face that I can't help but reciprocate.

"I met him in Seattle when I went there with Kate last Monday," I supply, still looking at Elliot.

"So you came all this way to hang out with college students?" Jose asks, making it sound ridiculous.

"Well, I mostly came to hang out with my girl, but I wanted to meet her friends as well," Elliot responds pretending not to hear animosity from Jose and gives me kiss. I feel giddy like a school girl, hearing him call me 'his girl', while Jose looks like he's eaten something sour, and shuffles out his seat and move to the other table.

"So how long has he had a thing for you?" Elliot whispers into my ear before licking the shell of my ear before kissing and sucking on the point under my ear, that makes me go crazy. I can't help the whimper that slips out.

"According to Kate, it's been years, his dad and Ray were in the Marines together," I finally manage to get out.

I introduce Elliot to some of the others, and we go to the dance floor with them and have fun. Kate avoids us like the plague despite my trying to go up to her to talk, but she quickly excused herself and disappeared into the crowd. After that, I gave up and decided to let her come to me when she was ready.

At 3 am, both Elliot and I were ready to go home. I told him, I had to pee before we left but he could go get us a taxi. Kate had already gone off with some guy from the paper, I just hoped they'd gone to his place.

Coming out of the bathroom, Jose immediately comes up to me and blocks my exit from the hallway.

"Why are you with him?" He asks accusingly.

"Because I like him. Why?" I ask, trying to remain calm. I can smell the alcohol on his breath, it's powerful, and I can tell he is wasted; his eyes can't even focus.

"But I am here, I've always been right here," he says. I'm not sure if he's actually talking to himself or to me.

"I don't feel that way about you," I tell him quietly, trying to get around so I can get out of here. The stench of alcohol coming from him is making me nauseous. Jose grabs my arm when I try to walk around him and push me against the wall. His grab on my arm is tight, and it's getting painful. I really wish someone would come back to this hallway right now.

"Please Jose, let go of me!" I shout, hoping someone might hear me.

"No! I've always been here, it should be me!" he roars. He tries to kiss me, but I turn away and try to push him off of me. But he still has a tight grip on my arm, and he is too strong for me. He continues to try and kiss me, and I can feel him becoming more frustrated.

"Please, Jose! Stop!" I scream. I can feel tears well up in my eyes, threatening to spill any second.

Suddenly Jose is gone, and I'm in Elliot's arms.

"Oh God, are you okay, baby?" Elliot asks. I can't even talk, so I just cling to him, hiding my face in the crook of his neck, hoping his scent might calm me down.

"It's okay, I've got you" he keeps repeating, not sure if it's to himself or to me. He keeps kissing my hair, making sure I know he is here for me.

I look up from Elliot's neck and see Jose being escorted out by security, he looks like he's taken a few punches, so I quickly turn my body to check Elliot's hands. They're a little bruised and have a little blood on them, but I can tell it isn't his.

"I'm fine, Ana. Come on, let's get you home," Elliot interrupts my thoughts and leads me outside. We get into a taxi right away and are quickly on our way back to my apartment.

"Thank you, E.T.," I say, not knowing what else to say right now. This wasn't exactly how I'd seen tonight going.

"You don't have to thank me, baby. I'm just glad I was there," he whispers, his lips resting against the side of my head, while he's holding me.


	9. Chapter 9: Come on, Stud

**Author's Note**

 **I'm so sorry for how late this chapter is! Work and school have been kicking my butt. But it is finished now! YAY! I will try to make it up to you guys by publishing the next chapter early.**

 **As always, huge thanks to everyone who reads, faves, follows and reviews my story! It gives me huge confidence boost to continue writing, so please keep it up! Thank you!**

 **Enjoy!**

Ana POV

The cab ride was thankfully short. I was suddenly exhausted and could barely keep my eyes open. I wasn't sure whether it was the alcohol or Jose's attack, probably a mix of both, but either way I couldn't wait to see my bed. Elliot got me upstairs and unlocked our door, as I couldn't get my hands to stop shaking long enough to get the key into the keyhole. Thankfully, the apartment was empty, meaning Kate had gone home with whatever guy she was with.

"Do you want anything before you to bed, Ana?" Elliot asked me quietly as I sat down on my bed.

"Will you get me a bottle of water, please? There should be a few in the fridge,"

"Of course, baby. I'll be right back," he says giving me a quick kiss on the cheek before disappearing into the hallway, going to the kitchen. I get changed into my sleep shorts and an old t-shirt while he's in the kitchen.

He comes back quickly with two bottles of water as well as some aspirin.

"Here, take these now, you won't feel too hungover tomorrow," he says handing me two aspirins.

"Thank you, Elliot! I'm so sorry about tonight... I can't believe how it turned out," I said dropping my head into my hands.

"You can't possibly take responsibility for any that baby," he says raising my chin with his fingers as he sits on my desk chair opposite me.

"None of this was your fault, Ana! Now let's get some sleep, and we'll talk more in the morning," he says giving me a kiss, that I quickly deepen. At some point we end up laying down on my bed, Elliot partially laying on top of me, pushing me further into the mattress. One of my hands is on Elliot's back, under his shirt. I can feel all his muscles rippling under my hand, I can't hold back the groan from the feel of them. My other hand is his hair, my fingers running through his soft curls and nails lightly scraping his scalp. I pull on his hair slightly, making him groan.

Elliot pulls away slightly, his breathing is rough, and he whispers that we should stop. I know he's just as turned on as I am, as I can feel how hard he is against me. I'm trying to say something, but I can't seem to put together a sentence. I know he is right though. After everything that happened tonight especially Jose, I really shouldn't be jumping into bed with Elliot, plus I've also quite a bit of alcohol, and I want to be able to remember this clearly, not through an alcohol haze.

"I know," I finally manage to whisper, my breathing still a little fast from our make-out session.

Elliot slides off of me and lays down next to me, gathering me in his arms. My head is resting in the crook of his shoulder, his arm around me, keeping me close and our legs all tangled up. Despite what we were doing only minutes ago, I can feel my eyes dropping, all the events of the day have exhausted me.

The last thing I remember before falling asleep is breathing in Elliot's scent and Elliot quietly saying "I'll always be here for you, Ana Banana," as he kissed my hair.

Waking up, I'm still in the exact same position I was when I went to sleep, and so is Elliot. I'm not entirely sure what it is, that woke me up until I hear Elliot saying something, or rather mumbling something. I turn my head just a little so I can see Elliot's face, but he is still sound asleep. I realize he must be talking in his sleep, which I find super adorable. The only thing I can make out is 'Ana Banana,' which is making me swoon a little as I hear him say it.

I can't help but reach up and caress his face but right before I touch him, I hear the front door slam. Elliot wakes up startled by the noise, looking around us to see what's going on. We're both sitting up in bed when I hear, what I assume to be Kate's door, slam as well.

"It must be Kate," I mumble annoyed that she can't just walk in like a regular person.

"Does she always come home so loudly?" Elliot groans. I just shrug as Kate usually comes home in some kind of loud manner, although the door slamming is mostly when she's angry. I lay back down, pulling Elliot with me. Elliot laughs, pulling me close to him. However, our cuddles are quickly interrupted by Kate.

"Ana! Are you gonna make breakfast soon? I'm starving!" Kate yells through the door. I just sigh, thinking how I used to love cooking for Kate and how appreciative she used to be. But these last couple of months, it's been more of a demand that I cook everything for her, which in turn makes me not want to do it.

"Does she always treat you like this?" Elliot asks, propping himself up on one of his arms as he looks at me. I just shrug again not wanting to admit how my supposed best friend has treated me the past few months.

"Talk to me, baby,"

"She hasn't always been like this. Kate can't cook, and I love to cook, so I've always done most of it since we moved in together our sophomore year. Until a few a months ago, Kate used to be very appreciative and thankful for everything I did, especially the cooking. But these past few months, she's treated me more like a butler. I don't know what happened, but I guess I just wrote it off as graduation anxiety," I tell him, feeling a little ashamed about how I've allowed Kate to treat me.

"Do you think something could have happened a few months ago that could have tricked her behavior?" he asks sounding genuinely concerned.

"I don't know, she never said anything, and she hasn't gone to her usual fallbacks," I sigh. I get out of bed as I am pretty hungry and I'm sure Elliot is as well.

"Come on stud, we are making breakfast," I say trying to lighten the mood as I pull him out of bed. I realize he's wearing pajama bottoms, but I have no idea when he put them on, it must have been after I fell asleep.

We walk out into the kitchen hand in hand, Kate is sitting at the breakfast bar with a cup of coffee.

"Morning Kate," I tell her, opening our fridge to see what I can whip up for the three of us.

"Morning," she mumbles.

"So how does everyone feel about pancakes with eggs and bacon?" I ask both of them but only looking at Elliot.

"Whatever you make is fine with me, baby."

"Yeah sure, whatever," Kate says looking at her phone.

I can tell Kate's behavior is pissing Elliot of, but at the same time, he doesn't want to say something to make everything worse.

I set about cooking our food right away and even get Elliot to whisk the eggs while I make the pancake batter.

Our food is quickly done, and we get ready to eat. Elliot tried to help by cooking the bacon but promptly burned the first ones as well as himself, so I took over and told him to put his finger under cold water.

Kate continues to ignore us and just eats her breakfast, still playing around on her phone. The second she finishes, she leaves the table and goes to her room, not saying a single word or even taking her plate to the sink.

"I'm sorry baby, but how can you stand that?" Elliot asks me the second Kate's door closes and we're by ourselves.

"I guess I've kind of learned to ignore it, but I really hope it ends when she comes back from vacation with her family," I tell him. We are interrupted by Elliot's phone, he quickly apologizes and tells me it's his brother, and he'll be right back.

Hearing the mention of his brother, Christian, I'm suddenly reminded of the picture of my mother and so-called aunt I found this weekend. I actually brought it back with me to Portland, debating whether to talk to Elliot about it or not.

I know that Elliot isn't sensitive about his adoption, but some people are, and I don't want to bring up things, that might be a sensitive topic. I keep forgetting that I've only Elliot for a little more than a week, it feels like I've known him forever. But what could bringing this up, do?

Elliot is in the living room talking, so I get started on the dishes and put them in the dishwasher. Everything is cleared away, but I can hear Elliot is still on the phone, so I go to my room to get my phone. I know I have to call my dad and tell him about Jose and I also need to mention it to Kate. The picture of my mother and aunt are on my desk next to my phone, so I pick it up instead of the phone, hoping to delay that conversation with my dad as much as possible.

"Sorry about that baby," Elliot says coming in with his phone in his hand.

"It's fine, is everything okay with your brother?"

"Yeah he is okay, it was about your graduation. He is flying out here tomorrow for the ceremony on Thursday and wanted to know if I needed a ride. But I was actually thinking of staying here in Portland until this weekend when we're moving you to Seattle," he says looking a little nervous.

"I think that sounds great and you're more than welcome to stay here, but I have my last shift at the hardware store tomorrow, and I can't miss it. The owners have planned some kind of goodbye thing for me. But otherwise, all I have to do is pack up the apartment," I tell, hoping he'll still stay.

"Well, I'll be happy to help you pack," he says, spinning me around in his arms, giving me a sweet kiss.

"Should we talk about what happened last night?" Elliot asks, looking into my eyes as our foreheads are leaning against each other.

"There's not really anything to talk about. I'm fine, I just can't believe Jose did what he did. I'm going to have to tell my dad somehow though," I tell him honestly.

"Is he still going to be helping with the move this weekend?" Elliot asks carefully.

"Hell no! Right now, I don't want to see him at all!"

"Thank god!" Elliot says relieved, making me giggle. I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about what happened, but I just want to forget it.

"What's this?" Elliot asks, noticing the picture that is still in my hand, which is now pressed against his chest. I feel my entire body tense up, and my brain working in overdrive as Elliot turns the photo so he can see it.

"I... I... It's..." I try to string together a sentence.

"Ana, what's wrong?" he asks concerned. He hasn't looked at the picture yet as my reaction distracted him from the photo. I take a deep breath, trying to prepare myself for this conversation, and the possible outcome of it. I grab the picture from his hand and turn it so he can see it.

"It's a picture of my mother and her older sister when they were young. I saw it at dad's this weekend, and I couldn't remember having seen it before. I didn't even know my mother had a sister. It turns out she ran away when she was 15 or 16, and they never knew what happened to her,"

"Sounds horrible," Elliot says, I can see him staring at the picture, but I can't tell which person he is looking at.

"El, I'm not sure how to say this or even if I should, but I need to," I tell him nervously, taking another deep breath.

"When I first met your brother at brunch Friday, something about him seemed familiar, but I couldn't place it, so I ignored it. But when I arrived at my dad's later that day, I found this photo and asked dad about it, I realized why. I have probably seen this picture during my childhood, and my aunt, Ellaine, reminds me a lot of your brother Christian. They have the exact same grey eyes, same hair, same lips. I don't know what this is or what it means. But I have been wracking my brain trying to decide whether or not to tell you. From what little I know of Christian, he is very private, and I'm not really sure how he'd react to something like this," I finish. My hand holding the picture is shaking, I can't read Elliot's face, it's like it's frozen.

"Please say something," I beg.

Finally, Elliot looks away from the photo and looks into my eyes. He seems utterly shell-shocked, maybe even a little scared.


	10. Chapter 10: Girlfriend, huh?

Elliot POV

"Are you saying, there is a chance that you and my baby brother are biologically related?" I ask, not really expecting an answer, but trying to get my head around it.

Ana could be biologically related to Christian, my brother. I have no idea what to think or feel. Does that mean, that I'm in some freaky way related to Ana? A girl, I'm pretty sure I've fallen in love with, in just a week. No... No, it doesn't work that way, I scold myself.

"I think so," Ana whispers.

I look back at the photo and notice the similarities Ana pointed out. She's right. This woman and Christian definitely have some of the same features. It's a little bit like looking at a female version of Christian.

I'm completely absorbed by the picture, that I forget Ana is still in my arms and probably freaking out.

"Should I not have told you?" Ana asks cautiously. Her face is hidden in my t-shirt, muffling her already low voice. I can't imagine what must have gone through her head when she made the possible connection and on top of that found out she had an aunt, she never knew about. And then she also has the whole Jose and Kate debacle.

"No, I'm glad you did. I just... I don't know what to do with this information. Christian's life before mom and dad adopted him was... hard. He remembers parts of it, and I don't know he would react to something like this,"

I sigh, leaning my forehead on hers, seeking the calm she always seems to bring me.

"Is Christian going to hate me if this is true?" She asks lifting her beautiful powder blue eyes to meet mine. I know she hates the thought of my brother hating her, especially due to something she has no control over. But based on what I know of Ana's non-existent relationship with her mother, Christian could react like he did when mom and dad brought Mia home. He became super protective of her, and I could see Christian doing the same with Ana. Her mother abandoned her, much like Christian's own mother did to him and now the chance that their mothers are sisters. God, you really can't make this stuff up.

"No baby, he won't hate you," I tell her, giving her a lingering kiss on her forehead in an attempt to reassure her.

I genuinely don't think Christian will hate her, but I am a little worried about how he will react when he first finds out. He has always had a need to be in control, ever since mom and dad brought him home. I used to love challenging him and his control need when we were kids because I was too young to understand the reasons behind it. Although I still like to do it sometimes, even today.

Ana POV

Elliot and I let the subject of my aunt and Christian go for the day. I think we both needed a little break from it, to try and figure out what our best move was. I was just thankful that Elliot hadn't completely freaked out on me. While he took care of some business calls, I went and talked to Kate about Jose and that Elliot and some of his friends would help with the move on Saturday. She seemed genuinely upset about the Jose incident and was very apologetic about her not being there for me. She promised to help me if Jose were to reach out to me or show up at our apartment. He knew where we were moving to as he was initially going to help us with the move. I was glad that she wanted to be there for me, but considering she's about to head on a three-week vacation with her family, she won't be of much assistance to me right now in regards to Jose. She seemed like the old Kate, I knew and loved. And missed. But the second I brought up Elliot, the 'new Kate' reared her ugly face. I ended up leaving in the middle of her tirade, I wasn't in the mood to listen to her bitching.

Kate spends the rest of the day in her room, while Elliot and I start packing up the living room.

"I talked to three of my guys, and they'll be here at around 9:30 am on Saturday, so we can get started and moved you to Seattle. They offered to pick up the U-Haul truck as well, and one of them will drive it to Seattle," Elliot tells me, as I'm wrapping things in bubble wrap while he puts them into the boxes.

"That sounds great! Kate said her brother, Ethan, would come Friday night and stay over so we can start as soon as your friends arrive," I grin. I can't wait for this move. The apartment in Seattle is fantastic, and it's in a great area of the city. And even better, Elliot only lives 5 minutes away. From what he has told me about his condo, it's basically a bachelor's pad and definitely decorated like it. He hasn't bothered to redecorate since he moved in after college, so everything is pretty much the same.

"Great, I was actually hoping you might want to go with me to dinner at my parents' place on Sunday? Mom likes to get the whole family together on Sundays," Elliot says, looking nervous, not something I've seen a lot, he is usually super confident and sure of himself.

"Are you sure? I mean, if it's a family dinner..."

"Of course! I want my family to meet my girlfriend, besides you already won over my baby bro and he's definitely the tough one," Elliot laughs. _Oh my God_! Did he just refer to me as his girlfriend? I can't help the stupid grin that completely overtakes my face as I hear him say the word _girlfriend_.

"Girlfriend, huh? And who might that lucky lady be?" I ask grinning like a loon. He comes over to me, intertwining our hands and gently pushes me up against the wall, trapping me with his body.

"Oh, she's fantastic! She has these beautiful powder blue eyes, the softest dark long hair, and her body! Mmm... She has this killer body! But you know what the best part is - she is the kindest, most unselfish woman I have ever met," he finishes. His face has gotten closer to mine, the more he spoke, and now his lips are so close to mine, I can feel his breath on my lips. I'm panting like I've run a marathon and my panties are absolutely soaked, and he has only been talking. I quickly close what little space there is between us, and we are all tongue and teeth clashing. Elliot lifts me up by the back of my thighs, and my legs go around his waist while my arms automatically go around his neck and play with his hair. I can feel him walking, but I have no idea where he's taking us, and right now, I do not care! All I can focus on are Elliot's lips and his hands, which are now on my ass, holding me up. I land on a mattress and Elliot is immediately on top of me. I manage to get Elliot's shirt off, and my hands are all over his chest. Elliot pulls my shirt up, leaving me in my bra and panties as he quickly manages to pull my yoga pants down as well. Elliot starts kissing down my neck and sucks on my sweet spot, making me gasp and moan all at the same time. I'm trying to work his belt buckle, but I cannot for the life of me focus enough to figure out how to open the damn thing. I groan out of frustration from his damn belt buckle, and it makes Elliot burst out laughing, causing me to start laughing. We are both in fits of laughter, my hands are covering my eyes as I am trying to control my laughter and Elliot had his face hidden by in my stomach and holding onto my waist in his attempt to control himself.

"Really, Ana Banana?!" He says still laughing.

"You're the one with the damn chastity belt," I tell him accusingly, still laughing like a maniac. This only makes him laugh even harder. I don't even know how long it takes us to calm down because every time we look at each other, we start all over again. When we're finally done though, we are just laying on my bed still with him on top of me with his head on my stomach. It's kind of an odd position, but it feels comfortable, despite my lack of clothes.

"I have to tell you something, El," I whisper.

"Please tell me it's not another family photo, and it turns out we are biologically related as well?" Elliot jokes, looking up into my eyes.

"I... I'm... I've never..."

"Ana relax," Elliot says, stroking my arm.

"I'm a virgin!" I blurt out. Elliot's stroking halts for just a second before starting back up. My eyes are squeezed shut, and I dare not open them. Elliot continues to stroke my arm and tells me to open my eyes. I open one eye, looking at Elliot before slowly opening my other eye.

"This is going to sound very hypocritical, but I have to say I'm feeling a little relieved," he says sheepishly.

"Relieved?" I asked, completely shocked by this.

"Yeah. I _really_ like you baby, and I've never been the jealous type before, but the thought of you with someone else... Like I said, very hypocritical,"

"Well, I'm relieved to hear that," I say, feeling much lighter after revealing that.

We spend the rest of the day in my room, whether it's packing a little or just laying down on the bed, all cuddled up. I, of course, agree to go with him to his parents' place on Sunday for their weekly family dinner.


	11. Chapter 11: Hey! Be nice!

**Author's Note**

 **Thank you so much for all the favorites, follows and reviews! It means so much to me and I hope you will keep it up!**

 **I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please review.**

Ana POV

I'm finishing up my last shift at Clayton's Hardware store. I'm just checking out the last few customers before closing up the store and then joining the Bon Voyage party in the staff room. I asked Mrs. Clayton earlier if it was okay if Elliot came for the party and he was more than welcome. He is already out back as Mrs. Clayton asked for his help with something. She's been doting on him ever since he came; apparently, I'm not the only one who can't withstand his natural charm and that signature smile of his.

Paul hasn't been here today, so I'm crossing my fingers that he's not coming at all.

The last customer has left, and I'm on my way to the staff room. With the exception of meeting Elliot, my luck is horrible at the moment; I'm intercepted by Paul, who stops me right around the corner from the staff room.

"Ana! So good to see you, it's been a while," he says

"Yeah, I've been busy lately," I say, wanting this conversation to end sooner rather than later.

"You don't say. Anyway, I've actually been considering moving to Seattle as well," he says happily.

"Really?" I say, even I can tell my voice sounds off and strained. I've never been straight up mean to him despite the many advances, but I know from Mr. Clayton, that Paul has always wanted to move to Chicago and that he has gotten a few job offers from there in the last few weeks as he just finished his master's degree from Stanford.

"Yeah, we'll finally live in the same city, and we can go on that date, we've talked about," he suggests, utterly oblivious to my reaction. Thankfully, we're interrupted by Elliot, who immediately pulls me to his side with an arm around my waist.

"There you are, baby! Everyone's waiting for you," Elliot says, giving me a quick kiss, clearly marking his territory. My inner feminist is screaming at me to do something about his action, but I secretly love it.

"Sorry, babe. I got held up by Paul; he is Mr. Clayton's younger brother," I tell him lovingly, completely ignoring Paul.

"I'm Elliot Grey, Ana's boyfriend," Elliot introduces himself, putting his hand out for Paul to shake. Paul looks like he ate something bad, and reluctantly reaches his hand out to shake Elliot's and introduces himself. I looked at Paul while they were shaking hands, as they were holding it longer than necessary and I see Paul lightly flinch and his jaw clenching. Looking at their hands, I could see why; they had another testosterone battle, seeing whose handshake was hardest - Elliot seemed to be the winner, his face wasn't showing any sign of strain. Paul gave in, and I immediately took Elliot's hand in mine and caressed it as we walked into the staff room, leaving Paul behind.

The party is going well, Elliot is talking with Mr. Clayton, they've seemed to really hit it off.

"So where did you find that hunk of a man?" Mrs. Clayton asks me, surprising me as I hadn't even realized she was standing beside me.

"Oh you know, just looked up hunk on the yellow pages," I tell her giggling.

"We met in Seattle when I went with Kate last week," I say, looking over at her when I see her blatantly looking Elliot up and down, just like I was a second ago.

"Hey! Stare at your own man," I giggle, bumping her shoulder.

"You can't blame me, sweetheart. That man is as sexy as they come! You sure know how to pick them."

"Yeah, I got pretty lucky," I tell her. My relationship with Mrs. Clayton has always been great; she's acted as a surrogate aunt towards me, knowing I never really had a female role model. She and Mr. Clayton were never able to have children themselves, so she was always very maternal towards me.

"I'm the lucky one," Elliot interrupts, putting his arms around me and kissing me on the side of my head.

"Hey mister! Did your mom never teach you it's rude to eavesdrop," I joke, kissing his arm.

"It's always the fun stuff that isn't allowed," he jokes, kissing my cheek.

"You better take good care of our girl in Seattle, Elliot. I will hold you responsible," Mrs. Clayton says.

"I promise to take great care of her," Elliot says, pulling me even closer, so I'm now standing flush against him.

The rest of the party went well; I ignored Paul for the rest of the night despite his attempts the few times I was standing by myself. He also glared at Elliot every time he was near me or talking to his brother and his wife. I had an emotional goodbye with Mrs. Clayton, but I promised to stay in touch and come see her once in a while.

Elliot had driven me to work earlier, so we could leave together and didn't have to go in two cars.

"So... Should I be worried about this Paul guy? He kept glaring at us all night, and I heard him mentioning a date just before I came out,"

"No, he's been trying to take me out for a long time; basically every time he is in town he asks me out,"

"Did I hear him say he might move to Seattle?"

"Yeah, although I've never heard him talking about Seattle before, either way, I'll be ignoring him," I tell him honestly.

"I got a bad vibe from the guy," Elliot mumbles, although I'm not sure if he's talking to himself or me.

When we get back to the apartment, Kate has packed up the last of the living room, and I know she's almost done with her room as well. So we only need to finish packing up the last of the kitchen and the last of our rooms Friday, and then we'll be ready for Saturday morning.

It's a very odd feeling; there are boxes everywhere filled with all of our belongings. Kate's door is shut, and it looks like her lights are out, meaning she's gone to bed. She also has to be at the school early tomorrow since she's giving a speech, and she'll want to look her absolute best for this. We head straight to my room, and I go into my bathroom to change into my pajamas, while Elliot puts on his pajama pants in my bedroom. Soon after, we are cuddled up in my bed.

"So are you nervous about tomorrow?" he asks.

"A little, but mostly about tripping over my own feet while I walk across the stage," I giggle.

"Maybe I should warn Christian to be ready to catch you on the stage," he laughs.

"Hey! Be nice!" I exclaim, slapping him on his chest, causing Elliot to laugh even harder.

"My apologies, my lady," he says playfully in a horrible British accent.

"That has got to be the worst British accent, or should I say attempt at a British accent, I have ever heard," I giggle, while he just laughs.

"I forgot to ask you earlier, but did you talk to Ray about what happened with José?"

"Ugh no... But I know, I have to. I don't want to do it tomorrow though; I just want to enjoy that I'm graduating and moving to Seattle."

"Okay, I can understand that. Do you think José might show up at the ceremony?"

"Probably, but I doubt he'll come up to me, or Ray for that matter. He doesn't know whether or not I've told my dad, but he knows how protective Ray is of me."

"He better stay away!" Elliot growls.

"Oh, I forgot to ask, what should I bring to your parents' on Sunday?"

"You don't have to bring anything Ana Banana, just your charming self," he says, nibbling on my ear.

"But I want to. What's your favorite dessert?" I ask breathy.

"Without a doubt, red velvet cake with creme cheese frosting!" he exclaims with a smile and glint in his blue eyes that reminds of a kid on Christmas morning.

"Then how about I make a red velvet cake," I say, kissing him, a kiss he deepens. One of his hands is at the back of my head, keeping me close, our tongues sensually dancing. Our bodies are right up against each other, and I can feel his hard length pressed against my thigh, making me whimper.

"You know, I could really get used to you cooking for me," he says, kissing my neck before sucking and nibbling on my sweet spot.

He pulls away slightly and lays all the way down on the bed, letting me cuddle into his side, resting my head in the crook of his shoulder and resting my hand on top his heart. This has become my favorite sleep position these last days, and I'm already dreading having to sleep alone.

"Sleep Ana Banana, it's gonna be a long day tomorrow," he whispers, giving me a goodnight kiss.

"Sweet dreams E.T.," I whisper, falling asleep quickly, dreaming of ocean blue eyes.


	12. Chapter 12: Graduation

Ana POV

I wake up 10 minutes before the alarm clock is supposed to go off the next morning, and instead of getting out of bed and get started, I'm spending these few minutes staring at Elliot as he sleeps. Mrs. Clayton was right about one thing, he really is handsome! No matter how much he protests it, I am lucky that I found him that early morning in Seattle, and even more lucky that he seems to like me as much as I like him.

"Stop staring, it's creepy," Elliot says but keeping his eyes closed. How does he do that?!

"But you're so handsome," I giggle.

"Well, you're right about that Banana," he says suddenly jumping on top of me, trapping me between him and the mattress.

"Elliot!" I squeal.

He quickly quiets my protests by pressing his lips to mine. I gasp, which he takes advantage of, introducing his tongue into my mouth. I quickly get over my shock and kiss him back, our tongues swirling around one another. Our kiss is slow and passionate, making my stomach erupt in butterflies.

"You were saying, baby?" he mocks me, knowing he has completely muddled my thoughts with his kiss. I have no chance of gathering myself or my thoughts as he proceeds to kiss, nibble and suck down my neck, so I just moan at the feelings he awakes in me.

We are interrupted by a knock on my bedroom door.

"Ana! I'm leaving now, I'll see you at the school," Kate yells through the door.

"Okay, good luck with the speech!" I holler.

"Thank you!" She yells before we hear the front door slam shut.

"She seriously has the worst timing," Elliot grumbles dropping his head in the crook of my neck.

"We have to start getting up anyways, I have to start getting ready. We have to be at the school in just under two hours," I giggle, wiggling out from under him and go to the bathroom to shower. I hear Elliot mumble something into the pillow, but I have no idea what he is saying, so I just continue into the bathroom.

Coming out of the steamy bathroom, I see Elliot sitting on the bed with two plates with breakfast on them. Or buttered burnt toast.

"Breakfast in bed for the graduate," he smiles.

"You made that for me?" I whisper, feeling very overwhelmed suddenly. I don't remember the last time someone made food for me, tears well up in my eyes at his thoughtfulness.

"Yeah, I know it isn't much and a little burnt..."

"It's perfect! I don't remember the last time someone did something like this for me, even cooked for me," I interrupt, going over to the bed, giving him a kiss to show just how thankful I am.

"Damn, I should burn toast more often!" he says, making me laugh.

We quickly eat our breakfast before Elliot goes to shower and I start on my hair and makeup. I am curling my hair when Elliot comes out of the bathroom, only wearing some boxers and drying his blonde curls with a towel. I can't stop staring at him, no one should be allowed to be this perfect. Elliot notices me staring at him but merely puts on a smug smile. Usually, I would look away and be embarrassed that I got caught staring but seriously, what does he expect? He can't come out of the bathroom looking like that and not expect to be ogled.

"See something you like, baby?"

"Yep," I say straight out, knowing I wouldn't be able to appear nonchalant right now.

I finish my hair and makeup, and then we quickly get dressed and take off towards the school in Elliot's truck as he complains Wanda is too small.

We meet up with dad just outside the school, I'm so happy he's here to see me, he's always been my number one fan.

"Hi Annie, how are you feeling?" Dad asks me as gives me a hug and a kiss on the forehead.

"Hi dad, a little nervous but mostly excited,"

"Hi Elliot, good to see you again," dad says, reaching his hand out to shakes Elliot's.

"Hi Ray, good to see you too," Elliot says, shaking dad's hand.

We stand around talking for a bit before I have to excuse myself as I need to go in. Dad and Elliot go off together to find some seats together.

I go to the back amongst a sea of graduates dressed in cap and gown just like myself, I decide to try and search for Kate before we have to walk in. I don't manage to find Kate. However, I do find my friend, Maddie who studied English Lit just like me. We've stuck together through the four years as well but have otherwise been in different social circles, plus she and Kate have never been able to get along with one another.

"Maddie!" I say, trying to get her attention but without getting the attention from everyone else as well.

"Ana, oh I'm so glad I found you," she says, walking towards me, we give each other a big as we haven't seen each other since our last exam.

"Me too. I've missed you! Everything has been about exams the last month or two," I smile.

"Ugh, don't I know it, but we did it! We are actually graduating!" she squeals, getting the attention from a few people standing close to us.

"I know, it's so hard to believe,"

"You're still moving to Seattle with Katherine, right?" she asks.

"Yeah, we are moving all our things this Saturday, why?"

"Well, I've been offered a teaching position at Lakeside High School in Seattle teaching their freshman and sophomore English class, so I'm moving to Seattle in a few weeks! I just have to find an apartment,"

"Oh my God, are you serious? That is so amazing," I tell her excitedly.

"I know, right?!"

We are interrupted as we all have to line up to start the walk in, I just pray I won't trip over my own feet and fall o my face. Once we are all seated, the dean and other people, including Kate and Elliot's brother Christian, enter the stage and take their seats. The ceremony passes by in a blur, Kate's speech is fantastic, and she gets a standing ovation. Christian's speech really good as well, but leaves with a great feeling of sadness too. He's gone hungry at some point, and I'm sure it was before he was adopted by the Greys, which means it was with his birth mother, who might be my maternal aunt. I realize how lucky I am to have Ray and from such a young age, my mother never really showed any motherly instincts, it was always Ray who was taking care of me, ever since I can remember. When the ceremony is over, I hurry outside to find my dad and Elliot, thankfully I see them almost immediately, my dad looks conflicted at first but quickly puts on a smile. He sweeps me up into one of his signature bear hugs as he tells me congratulations and how proud he is of me. The second he puts me down, I'm in Elliot's arms as he swings me around, congratulating me before giving me a quick kiss as he sets me down.

"Thank you so much, I can't believe it's over," I tell them happily.

"You did great, sweetheart! I couldn't be prouder of you than I already am," my dad says, being unusually emotional.

"Thank you so much, dad," I say with tears once again welling up in my eyes.

We are interrupted by Maddie who crashes into my side screaming 'we did it!', and I quickly hug her back.

"Hi Maddie, congratulations," dad says kindly. He's met Maddie a few times when he's visited me at school, and I know he secretly likes her a lot better than he does Kate, even if he won't tell me that.

"Hi Ray, it's good to see you again, and thank you," she says, quickly going from to hugging Ray.

"Maddie, this is my boyfriend, Elliot. Elliot, this is Maddie. Maddie took English Lit just like me," I say introducing the two of them. Maddie practically gives herself whiplash at the word 'boyfriend,' but quickly gathers herself.

"Hi Maddie, nice to meet you," Elliot says reaching his hand out and putting on his panty-dropping smile.

"Hello Elliot, nice to meet you too. I hope you're taking good care of my girl here," Maddie says, shaking Elliot's hand, looking completely unaffected by Elliot's smile, which is a first as far as I know.

"I promise to take great care of her; otherwise I'm sure Ray here will have my head," Elliot laughs.

"Damn right about that," Dad says, making all of us laugh. Maddie has to take off, she is going out with her parents and twin brother, but we promise to meet up once she moves to Seattle.

I tried to look for Kate as I wanted to congratulate her, but one of her journalism buddies told me she had already left with her family. Christian stopped by quickly and congratulated me again and that we'd see each other again on Sunday before he took off with his bodyguard/driver/right-hand man.

"Your brother was welcome to join us for dinner," dad says to Elliot as we are standing by dad's car.

"He probably has some work to do back in Seattle and with his chopper, he'll be back in Seattle in an hour," Elliot says.

"his chopper? Your brother has his own helicopter?" dad asks looking utterly gobsmacked.

"Yeah, one of his many toys,"

"Dad, Elliot and I will meet you at the restaurant, we should get going, or we'll miss our reservation," I say, wanting to stop the questions about Christian. Elliot and I still have to talk about the possible connection between Christian's birth mother and my own, something I'm sure we both want to postpone as long as possible.

"Okay, I'll meet you kids in front of Bancorp Tower, and then we'll head up together," dad says and gets into his car. Elliot and I walk hand in hand over to his truck, to take off for the Portland City Grill. Dad had apparently invited Elliot to join us as they were sitting waiting for the ceremony to begin. Elliot opens my door and helps me into the car before walking around and getting into the driver's seat. As we're driving to downtown Portland, I decided to bring up the look on my father's face when I first found them after the ceremony.

"Did something happen between the time I left you two to line up and then came out after the ceremony?"

"Why do you think something happened?" Elliot asks evasively, squirming slightly in his seat.

"Well, when I first found you guys after the ceremony, my dad looked... Conflicted," I tell him.

"Shit," he mumbles, not expecting me to hear, but I do none the less.

"Explain, Elliot!"

"We ran into José right after the ceremony. He came up to Ray apologizing profusely about what happened to you, but then when he saw the blank look on Ray's face, he ran like hell realizing he just busted himself to your dad,"

"Crap... Did you tell my dad what happened?" I ask, not sure what answer I prefer.

"Not anything specific, just that there was an incident on Monday night, but that he should talk to you about it. I didn't think you'd be very happy with me telling him everything,"

"Ugh, he is going to be pissed that I didn't tell him right away," I moan, dropping my head into my hands.

"It'll be fine, Ana. I promise," Elliot says, taking my left hand in his right and stroking my knuckles with his thumb.

Dad is already waiting for us outside of the restaurant, so we head straight up to the restaurant and get escorted to our table.

"So Annie, how does it feel to have graduated?" dad asks after we have ordered our drinks and food. Both men ordered a steak while I ordered stuffed chicken.

"It still feels a little surreal, but I can't wait until I start at SIP," I say excitedly.

"I really am proud of you, and remember my offer still stands,"

My dad had offered to get me my own apartment, so I wouldn't have to live with someone, but when he first brought it up, Kate and I were fine, so I said 'no thanks.' But if things continue the way they're going, I might just consider it.

We do a little small talk as we eat, my dad doesn't bring up José at all, but I know it's coming when I least expect it.

We are halfway through our dessert when it happens.

"So Annie, when were you going to tell me that something went down between you and José?"

"Uhm... I was going to wait until after graduation," I mumble, squirming a little in my seat.

"It's after graduation, now what happened?" he asks determined to get every detail out of me. I know he is angry, that I kept something from him, and he's going to be even angrier when he finds out what happened.

"As you know, we all went out on Monday night, I was drunk like most other people, but José was wasted. At the end of the night, Elliot went out to get us a taxi, but I had to pee, so promised to meet him outside. As I came out of the bathroom, José cornered and grabbed my arm, keeping me trapped against a wall. Apparently, he was in love with me and wasn't too happy about me being with Elliot. He kept trying to kiss me, but I kept turning my face away and tried to push him off, but he was too strong. Thankfully Elliot came looking for me because I was taking so long, he got José off of m, even gave him a few punches," I finish a few tears have escaped as I told what happened, but Elliot was quick to wipe them away. My dad reached for my hands from across the table, he had tears in his eyes, something I've never seen before.

"I'm so sorry, Annie! I wish you would've told me right away, but I guess I can also understand why you didn't. Please tell me, that you reported him," he begs me. I know he and José Sr. are still close friends, and I hope this won't affect their friendship.

"No, I just wanted to forget it ever happened. It's not like anything actually managed to happen other than a few bruises," I mumble. Elliot is clenching his hands; clearly, he'd be more than okay with pressing charges against José.

"I'm not going to lie, I wish you would have pressed charges even if it is José, but I also know how you are; you're old enough to make a decision like this, and I'll respect that. Or at least try," he says, but I can tell he's not happy about it.

"Thanks, dad," I say, giving his hand a squeeze. Dad pays the check despite Elliot trying to convince him to let him pay it since he crashed our family dinner. The only response he got out of my dad, was 'you're family now too', this made me tear up again for like the hundredth time today, and it completely stunned Elliot, which gave dad the window of opportunity to grab the check and pay it.

As we say goodbye outside in the parking lot, I promise dad to call him as soon as we've moved everything into the new apartment on Saturday. Dad and Elliot are whispering to each other, but it's too low for me to hear no matter how hard I try.

Elliot and I head back to the apartment, Kate is staying the night with her parents and then bringing her brother, Ethan with her tomorrow.

"Thank you for letting me tell him what happened, and just being there for me," I tell Elliot as we are laying in bed.

"Of course, baby. I'm here for you, any way you'll let me," he says kissing my cheek.

This day has been long and exhausting, and it's finally caught up with me, my eyes can barely stay open. Just as I'm falling asleep, I hear the words the 'I love you,' but I'm too far gone to respond.


	13. Chapter 13: The BIG Move

**Author's Note**

 **Hi everybody! So this is a chapter many of you have waited anxiously for and it is finally here. Next chapter, will be the Grey family dinner, wonder what will happen there ;-)**

 **The story isn't completely planned out yet, and I was wondering if there are some things you guys would really like me to write about, fx about Ana and Christian's mothers. Or if there are certain pairings you want to see. Let me know either in the reviews or pm me.**

 **As always, thank you for all the faves, follows and especially reviews! I'm so thankful for each and every single one.**

 **Enjoy!**

Ana POV

Elliot and I slept in, both exhausted from yesterday. He is in the living room right now, talking to one of his foremen about some kind of work emergency, so I decide to text Kate to see when she'll be back.

 **Ana: Do you know when you and Ethan will be here? By the way, your speech yesterday was fantastic! :-)**

 **Kate: Thank you :-) We'll probably be there around 2 pm, we'll eat lunch on our way.**

 **Ana: Great, I thought we could order something for dinner tonight, as we don't really have anything left.**

 **Kate: Sounds good, I could really go for pizza! That's fine, right?**

 **Ana: Pizza's good, see you later.**

Well, that was quick and painless, and at least I only have to do some kind of lunch for Elliot and myself.

I have just enough ingredients to put together a couple of sandwiches for us, and we also have some leftover mac n' cheese. I've just heated up the mac n' cheese when Elliot comes strolling into the kitchen with a grin on his face.

"Why are you all smiley? I thought something happened at one of your sites?" I ask him.

"Oh, it was just a mix up with a delivery, easily fixed. But then my mother called; turns out my dear baby sister is arriving home tomorrow night, and baby bro was supposed to pick her up, but something has happened, and he can't do it. Mom has a shift at the hospital and dad is out of town until Sunday morning for a conference, so I have to pick her up at Sea-Tac tomorrow at 7 pm and apparently she's demanding dinner as well. And I was wondering if you wanted to come with us?"

"Are you sure you want me to? I mean, you haven't seen your sister for almost a year," I ask.

"Of course! Mia would _love_ to meet you, and I really think you two will be great friends,"

"If you're sure, then yes I'd love to go with you," I say, giving him a quick kiss before setting our plates on the breakfast bar, so we can eat our lunch.

We have nice lunch, and Elliot tells me more about Mia and how she'd been studying at French cooking school in Paris. But apparently also figured out, that while she loved to cook, she hated working in a busy kitchen, so she had come no closer to figuring out what she wanted to do with her life. It sounded like Mia was the princess of the family and had both of her older brothers and parents wrapped around her finger.

We've just finished packing the last few things in the kitchen when Kate and her brother, Ethan come through the front door.

"Hi Ana! Elliot," Kate says, obviously Elliot was an afterthought. I really can't understand what her problem is, Elliot has been nothing but nice to her, despite her behavior towards him. I know he's wanted to wring her neck quite a few times this week, but he hasn't shown that to her.

"Hi Kate, hi Ethan," I smile at them albeit a tad strained.

"Hi Ana, great to see you again, and congrats on graduating," Ethan smiles his all American boy smile, that I'm sure makes plenty of girls goes soft in the knees. But it does nothing for me, whatsoever.

"Ethan, this is my boyfriend, Elliot Grey. Elliot, this is Kate's older brother, Ethan," I introduce the men, and they both shake hands. I quickly tell Kate that both the living room and kitchen are completely packed, so it's only whatever we have left in our rooms, and then we're finished and ready to move everything tomorrow.

Elliot and I retreat to my room as I really don't want my last day in this apartment spoiled by her. My bedroom is basically packed as well, as I don't have a lot of things. Elliot and I spend the rest of the day relaxing and watching Netflix.

Elliot woke me up with kisses all over my face at 8:30 am, he'd been to Starbucks and had bought breakfast and coffee for everyone, well tea for me.

"You're the best E.T., thank you so much," I say, giving him a quick kiss, as I'm starving and I know his friends will be here soon. We quickly finish our breakfast and get dressed, and I put the last few things into my overnight bag, as I'm spending the night at Elliot's place after we've had dinner with his sister. When we leave my bedroom, we run into the Kavanaugh siblings who are sitting at the breakfast bar eating the breakfast Elliot bought for them.

"Good morning! Thank you for the breakfast and coffee," Ethan says gratefully, while Kate stays quiet next to him. Our door phone goes off signaling the arrival of Elliot's friends, so Elliot goes to let them in, while I help Ethan clean up after his and Kate's breakfast. Elliot is opening the door for his friends when he suddenly starts yelling at someone, both Ethan and I run over to the door to see what's going on. And there standing in the hallway is José. Elliot is being held back by three guys, who I assume are his friends. They are all looking at Elliot like he's a madman, while Elliot continues to call a very pale José every name in the book, so I hurry to the door to get rid of José as quickly as possible.

"José, what the hell do you think you are doing here?" I ask him accusingly. He doesn't seem to be able to get a word out with Elliot still yelling and trying to get to him, so I ask his friends to get him further into the apartment before I turn back to José, though Ethan is standing nearby along with one of Elliot's friends.

"Answer me, José!" I tell him forcefully.

"I... I'm... here to... help," he stutters quietly.

"You're not welcome here, and I don't want your help, ever!"

"Please, Ana! Please forgive me. I didn't mean to, I was just drunk,"

"Drunk or not, you practically assaulted me, and I still have to bruises to prove it. So leave right now and don't come back," I say, slamming the front door, leaning my forehead against the cold wood and take a few calming breaths. Suddenly I'm encased in a pair of arms, that I immediately recognize as being Elliot's. Neither one of us say anything, we just stand there for a minute or two with his head resting on my shoulder before we turn around, only to see Elliot's friends staring at us, which of course makes me blush.

"Guys, this is Ana that I told you about. Ana, these are some of my closest mates, Daniel, Marc, and Philip," Elliot introduces us.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you guys and thank you so much for helping us out! We really appreciate it. This is my roommate Katherine Kavanaugh and her brother Ethan,"

Everyone quickly says hello to each other, and I tell the guys that there are drinks in the fridge and to help themselves. Thankfully, it seems José did as I said, as we don't see him when we start carrying things down. Between the five men and us two girls, we get everything into the U-Haul relatively quickly. A few of my things are in Elliot's truck along with my overnight bag, and Kate also decided to keep the suitcase she's packed for their family vacation in her car. Ethan and Kate leave first in Kate's car, while two of Elliot's friends take the U-Haul and the last one drives Elliot's truck. That's right, I convinced him to drive with me in Wanda all the way to Seattle. Well, he's driving but none the less, we are going in Wanda.

The drive to Seattle doesn't feel as long as it usually does, Elliot and I have talked during the entire trip, even a bit of singing. We made it to Seattle at about 2:30 pm and immediately started unpacking, we put all the boxes in the kitchen and some in the bedrooms, so we could get the furniture into the living room and our beds into our rooms.

By the time we are done, there is less than two hours till Mia lands at Sea-Tac, so we thank Elliot's friends profusely, and I promise to cook them a meal sometime. Kate and Ethan take off as well since they're leaving for the Bahamas in the morning, so they might as well stay with their parents. I lock up the apartment, and then Elliot and I head to his place to drop off my overnight bag. Apparently, Elliot is expecting Mia to have _a lot_ of luggage, so we're going to need all the space we can get. Elliot runs up with my bag, as we have to hurry to the airport. His building looks really nice though, definitely one of the more expensive addresses in Seattle.

Elliot returns quickly, and we're off to the airport, I'm a little nervous meeting another member of the Grey family, but Elliot keeps saying I have nothing to worry about, Mia will love me. We get to the airport with a few minutes to spare, and we only wait for five minutes or so before a raven-haired girl breaks into a run the second she sees Elliot and throws herself in his arms.

"Elliot, I've missed you so much!" she exclaims.

"I've missed you too Mi!" After a minute or so, she finally releases her brother and then she turns to me and practically hugs the life out of me. I'm slightly shocked, but get over it quickly and hug her back.

"You must be Ana, mom's told me about you and that you're joining us tomorrow for Sunday dinner. God, it's about time one of my brothers got a girlfriend! I can't wait for us to get to know each other, we are gonna be such great friends, oh and we can go shopping together, it's gonna be so much fun!" she says, all in one breath. I look over at Elliot, slightly scared she might pass out from lack of oxygen, but he just smirks at me, and I can almost hear him say 'I told you so.'

"Okay Mi, don't scare her off," Elliot teases her, but it works, and Mia disentangles herself from me.

"It's nice to meet you too Mia, Elliot's told me so much about you," I tell her.

We go get her luggage and Elliot was right, there was a lot of it; she had 6 huge suitcases. We were lucky and got a parking spot close by, so we didn't have to wheel the cases too far, but it's a good thing Elliot's truck is so big, or we wouldn't have had room for all of it, it barely fit as it was.

"So where are we going for dinner?" Mia asks the second we are leaving the airport. I can't believe she's so energized after flying from Paris to Seattle, I'm pretty sure I would've been dead on my feet.

"Christian got us a table at the Mile High Club as his apology for not picking you up himself," Elliot says. I've never heard nor been to this place, but Mia seems very excited about it. As we're driving, Mia is asking me lots of questions about myself and telling me all about herself as well. This continues even after we get out of the car and into the elevator going up to the restaurant. When we get to the restaurant, we are immediately shown to our table; apparently, the staff knows Mia and Elliot, but we are surprised by Christian sitting at the table waiting for us with a bottle of champagne.

"Christian!" Mia squeals throwing herself at her other brother.

"Good to see you, Mia. My meeting ended early, so I thought I'd surprise you here," he says, with the biggest most genuine smile, I've seen on his face so far. Elliot did tell me, that Christian has a huge soft spot when it comes to Mia, and that he's one who spoils her the most as he can't ever say no to her.

"I'm so happy that you did! Oh my God, have you met Ana yet? Isn't she amazing?"

"I've already met her Mia, and yes, she very kind," Christian interrupts Mia before she goes on another one of rambles, but at the same time, he makes me go bright red.

Elliot pulls out my chair and Christian pulls out Mia's like the gentlemen they are. While the brothers both ordered steak and baked potatoes, Mia and I both decide on the glazed salmon with roasted spring vegetables. Dinner is fantastic, and I'm finding it extremely entertaining watching how the three siblings interact with each other. Having Mia around seems to make Christian loosen up although he is still somewhat reserved.

As we end the night, Christian says he'll drive Mia to their parents' house in Bellevue, as he has to pick up some papers their father left for him. When Christian sees all the suitcases squished together in the bed of Elliot's truck, his eyes bug out, and he realizes they won't all fit into the SUV, so he gets someone to bring over a second SUV to hold all the luggage.

Elliot and I arrive back at his apartment, and it's just as he described it, very bachelor-like. He has all dark furniture and big black leather couch, there aren't a lot of knick-knacks, only a few family photos and some of him standing next to some Mariners baseball players. Elliot is getting something to drink in the kitchen, so I go exploring. It's a 3-bedroom apartment, so it's a little big for one person, but I like, it's very Elliot.

"So what do you think?" Elliot asks as he comes up from behind, gathering me in his arms kissing my neck.

"mmm... I like it, it's very you,"

"Thank you, did you see the bedroom yet?" he asks suggestively, sucking on my neck, right on my sweet spot. God, this man is incredible, I can't form any coherent sentences right now, so I just shake my head slightly while also moving my head to the side, giving him better access to my neck. He has one hand on my stomach, holding me close, while his right hand is under my right breast, carefully inching closer, probably to give me the opportunity to stop him. But I don't want to, I want this man, and I want him right now. My panties are already very wet, my center is throbbing.

All I can think about is Elliot, Elliot inside of me. My nibbles are pebbled, and his hand is teasing my right nipple through my shirt and bra. I realize we've moved out of the living room and into his bedroom, but I don't have the brain capacity to look around right now, all I see is the king-size bed.

I turn around in his arms and kiss him hard, while my hands are unbuttoning his shirt as fast they can with my sex-muddled brain. Elliot's hands are kneading my ass, making me moan into his mouth. His shirt is finally off, and I take advantage right away, my hands roaming his chest. My nails lightly scraping against his skin, making him growl. He takes off my shirt, leaving me in my bra. He lifts me up, carrying me onto the bed.

We are both working on each other's pants as we kiss, tongues and teeth clashing against one another. With both of us in our underwear, I can feel how hard Elliot is, turning me on even more. Elliot moves down to my chest, pushing the cups down to reveal my hard nipples, craving his attention. I arch my arch back pushing my nipples further into his mouth, showing him what I want. I grind my core against his hard length the best as I can from under him. I feel him grin against my breast, probably amused by needy behavior.

"Feeling a little needy, Banana?" he teases. I just growl at him and try to grind harder. Elliot undoes the clasp of my bra, releasing my breasts from their enclosure.

"Please, Elliot," I moan. I need release, desperately.

"I'm right here, baby."

He starts kissing down my stomach before he gets to where I want him most. He kisses my inner thighs so close to my core before he pulls down my panties, that are thoroughly soaked through by now. He plants kisses on my leg while going back up to my pussy.

"God, baby, you're _so_ wet," he says with what sounds like admiration.

He moves his mouth to my core, lapping up all my juices, exploring every fold. Nothing has ever felt as good as this does, I have absolutely no control of the sounds or words coming out of my mouth. He is sucking on my clit, and I'm falling over an invisible edge, screaming out Elliot's name while he drinks up everything I have to give.

Coming back to planet Earth, Elliot is crawling up to my face to kiss me, letting me taste my own cum. It feels so scandalous but so hot at the same time.

"Are you sure, you want this?"

"Yes, please Elliot. I want you!"

He's about to get a condom when I stop him.

"I'm on the pill," I tell him, making him look questioningly at me.

"Irregular periods," I shrug

"mmm... Bareback. I'm clean baby, promise,"

"I trust you," I say kissing him while pulling down his boxers. Holy shit, he is _huge_.

"I'll go slow," he promises. I just nod, desperately wanting him inside of me, right now.

He lines himself up with my opening, never letting his eyes stray from mine as he rubs the head of his cock against my pussy, making it wet.

He pushes himself in when he reaches the barrier, my virginity. He kisses me passionately as he quickly breaks the barrier, making me cry out in his kiss. It hurt a little, but nowhere near what I've heard Kate describe it as.

"Are you okay?"

"yes, please move," I moan. And he does.

He starts out at a slow pace, letting me get used to the unknown feeling.

"Fuck, you're so tight, I'm not sure how long I can last," he grunts.

I just moan and squeeze him a little harder, making him growl and attach his lips to one of my nipples. He is pounding into me harder, and I can feel myself right on the edge, but I need something more. Elliot recognizes my dilemma and quickly wets the pad of his thumbs and moves it down to my clit, circling it.

That was just what I needed, I fall right over the edge, into a sea of pleasure, screaming out Elliot's name.

"Fuck! Ana!" Elliot roars as he follows right behind me, coating the inside of my pussy with his cum.

As we lay there in our post-coital bliss, Elliot still inside me, I have that fluttering in my heart, and I desperately want to tell him that I love him, but I know it's still very early, so I stay quiet just enjoying this moment. I fall asleep, happier than I've ever felt, wrapped up in Elliot's arms. My happy place.


	14. Chapter 14: Family Dinner

**Author's Note**

 **So sorry for the weeks of silence! I've had exams and a full-time job, not really leaving time for anything else. But they're done now. Halleluja! So there will be 1-2 weekly updates. Thank you so much for all the support.**

 **And of course, thank you to all those who follow, fave and review! It means so much.**

 **Hope you enjoy this chapter.**

Ana POV

Waking up the next morning, I feel more refreshed than I have in a long time. Elliot is still sound asleep next to me, and once again he is talking in his sleep. Or rather mumbling. I give Elliot a quick kiss as I desperately need to relieve myself. Getting up, I find that I'm sore in places I didn't even know existed.

Thankfully the first door I try turns out to be the bathroom, so I quickly do my business, wash my hands and quickly brush my teeth. The bathroom is very nice and even has a walk-in shower as well as a big clawfoot bathtub, that I hope to try out one day.

Going back to the bedroom, I lift the sheet to cuddle up against Elliot again, as I'm not ready to start the day. But the second I pull the sheet back, I see the red spot showing the loss of my virginity. I can't help but blush bright red, from both embarrassment about the blood and then the memories of what happened last night.

"Get back in the bed, it's cold without you," Elliot grumbles, pulling me back into bed with him. He practically wraps his entire body around mine and closes his eyes again.

"Elliot," I whisper, pushing some his hair back that had fallen onto his forehead. All I get is a grunt, which only makes me giggle and whisper his name again.

"mm... What?" he grumbles.

"Thank you," I whisper. This makes him open one eye, looking very confused.

"Thank you? For what?" he questions.

"Everything, but especially last night," I say, my usual blush creeping its way across my cheeks.

"Baby, I should be the one to thank you. I mean, that was something you can only give once, and you gave that to me," he says while caressing my cheek.

"I'd like to try it again," I whisper, blushing furiously and biting my lip.

"Oh, we will! There's no way I can ever let you go now," he kisses me, moving on top of me. His tongue is begging for entrance, that I immediately give him as I twist my fingers in his blonde curls. Elliot groans low in his throat, which only spurs me on as I start grinding into him. I can feel his erection standing to full attention. He is rolling a nipple between his fingers while his mouth is playing with my other nipple, the sensations spreading all the way to my toes and back. At this point, I'm moaning so loudly I wouldn't be surprised if the neighbors could hear me.

"Elliot, please!"

"God, I love seeing you like this," he chuckles, his mouth moving south down my body. I'm feeling completely out of control and can't help the bucking of my hips.

"Stay still, Banana," he says against my pelvis. moving one arm across my stomach, locking me down.

His mouth is sucking on my clit while two of his fingers are inside of me, rubbing against my g-spot. I can't hold on any longer, so I fall over the edge, screaming Elliot's name. He laps up everything I give him. My hands are holding on to his hair, keeping him where I need him.

Coming down from my orgasm, Elliot has moved up to my face, peppering it with kisses all over.

"You look even more beautiful when you cum," he says against my neck.

I grind into him, trying to show him that I want him inside of me, but he does nothing.

"No baby, I know you have to be sore from last night, but I might take up on it later tonight,"

I pout just like I used to do when I was younger, and Ray told I couldn't do something.

"Oh God, please don't pout!" Elliot moans, laying his head down on my chest so he can't see my face. Damn...

"Ugh fine. But then you better feed me," I giggle. We get out of bed, and I put on Elliot's shirt from yesterday, while he puts on a pair of sweats and a black t-shirt. While Elliot goes to the kitchen, I quickly strip the bed and go in search of his washing machine. I locate the laundry room and immediately put in the sheets, and then go to find Elliot.

"So I have zero food since I've been in Portland for the past week, so how about we go out?" he says.

"Okay, but we'll have to go to the grocery so I can bake the cake for tonight,"

"Oh, I had almost forgotten you were gonna bake. Can't wait to try it," he says kissing me, and leading me back to the bedroom. We get dressed and go to a coffee house around the corner, where we both get a drink and a muffin. We finish quickly and go back for Elliot's truck so we can hit the grocery store.

Walking through the store, I can definitely tell Elliot doesn't know how to cook. He has no idea where in the store they have the basics, and when we went to get some general foods for his kitchen, he went straight to the prepared foods section.

"El, have you ever bought something that needs to be cooked?" I giggle.

"Pasta? But it was kind of mushy, not sure what happened there," he shrugs.

"You have such a beautiful kitchen, and you have no idea how to use it," I laugh. Elliot just winks and gives me that panty-dropping smile, that I can never get enough of.

We finish up and head back to his place, where I get started on the cake for tonight's dinner. 

We are on our way to his parents' house, and I'm nervous. Like really nervous. Elliot wants to compare my photo to an old photo in Christian's old room before we tell anyone anything. But it still makes me nervous, and then on top of that, I'm meeting Elliot's parents for the first time.

As we get closer to Bellevue, my clutch which holds the photo seems to become heavier and heavier. I'm biting my lip so hard, I wouldn't be surprised if it starts bleeding.

We pull into a long driveway, and Elliot puts his hand on my knee giving it a little squeeze in an attempt to calm me down.

"Baby, relax! Everything is gonna be fine, you'll see," he says, giving me a firm kiss. I take a couple of deep breaths before shooting Elliot a grateful smile as a silent 'thank you.'

I'm holding the cake as we walk up to the front door of what I would call a mansion, but is actually Elliot's childhood home. Elliot opens the door and calls out for his parents, letting them know we're here.

"Elliot! Ana!" Mia screams, running down the stairs before giving me a big hug, which manages to calm me a little.

"Hi Mia, good to see you again," I tell her.

"Oh I'm so happy you're here, Ana! Mom and dad can't wait to meet you," she says. And as if they heard their daughter, I see two people coming towards us, who must be Mr. and Dr. Grey.

They greet their son lovingly, and Elliot gives his mother a kiss on the cheek as he greets her. Before turning around and introducing me to his parents.

"Mom and dad, this is my girlfriend, Anastasia Steele. Ana, these are my parents, Carrick and Grace."

"It's so nice to meet you, Anastasia! Elliot has told us so much about you," Grace says, giving me a warm motherly hug.

"It's so nice to meet you as well, Dr. Trevelyan. And please call me Ana," I

"Only if you'll call me Grace."

"Deal. Oh we brought some dessert, I hope that's okay," I said passing her the container holding the cake, I baked earlier.

"Oh of course it is! That's so thoughtful of you, but you didn't have to."

Elliot's dad was next and gave me a warm handshake, telling me to call him Carrick and I likewise asked him to call me Ana.

We all go to settle down in the family room when Grace receives a call from Christian, informing her that he's running a little late but is on his way.

"Well, since my baby bro is late, I'm going to give Ana a tour of the house," Elliot says, getting up from his seat next to me and reaching his hand down to help me up.

"Oh, of course, that's a great idea sweetheart. Mia and I will go help out Gretchen in the kitchen," Grace says with a smile.

Elliot leads me up the staircase I saw Mia descent earlier. When he shows me his old bedroom, I immediately start laughing. It's a typical teenage boy room, and it's also very obvious that he was a jock in high school. But I just can't help but laugh at the fact that little Annie Steele, _bookworm_ ends up with Elliot Grey, _jock_. Elliot is looking at me like I'm a crazy person, clearly not understanding my reaction to his room. But as soon as I tell him, he bursts out laughing as well, so at least we'll look like crazy people together.

We finally get ourselves together and continue the tour around the second floor. Mia's looks like a real princess room, everything is pink and white.

After Mia's room, Elliot opens the door to was is obviously another teenage boy bedroom. Christian's bedroom. The light mood disappears right away. I can feel the anxiousness radiating off of Elliot, and myself for that matter. I can't help but feel like we're invading Christian's personal space even though he hasn't lived here in years. We both just stand in the doorway looking into the room, squeezing each other's hands.

"Are you sure about this, Elliot?" I whisper.

"Yes, I have to check before I can even think about telling him anything like this. The picture is hanging right over there above the desk," he says, but he still isn't moving.

After another minute he walks over to the desk, and I follow in his footstep and try to retrieve the photo from my clutch at the same time.

I'm holding my family photo in my hands, and Elliot is standing just a few feet away staring at a picture, which I assume show Christian's birth mother.

"Elliot?" I ask quietly as he seems to have frozen.

After a few moments, he reacts and comes over to stand by me. He puts the photo into my other hand, so we have them side by side.

"Elliot! Ana!" we suddenly hear Christian say from the hall. And just seconds later, Christian is standing in the door looking at the two of us in his old room.

"What are you two doing in here?" he asks confused. But then his eyes lower to my hands, or rather what's in my hands. I feel like I'm paralyzed. I can't get my body to move or my mouth to form some kind of sentence or even a single word.

Christian is suddenly standing next to me and looking at the two photos, and I manage to look up at Elliot, who looks... I don't even know the look on his face, in his eyes.

"Christian, I can -" Elliot tries.

" _WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS_?!" Christian roars. He looks like his head is about to blow off his body.

"Christian, please just let us explain," Elliot tries again.

" _EXPLAIN_?! Explain what? That your _girlfriend_ is standing with a picture of the crack whore with another woman who looks remarkably like your little girlfriend," he screams. He is furious, and I can't help the tears that fall from my eyes. This was everything I feared.

Christian storms out of the room and past his family standing by the door, who must have heard the screaming and come to see what's going on.

A few seconds later we hear the front door slam shut and a car take off from the driveway.

"Anyone care to explain what is going here, and why Christian just stormed out of here?" Carrick asks.

I can't believe this happened tonight. I'm standing at my boyfriend's house meeting his parents for the first time, with tears running down my face.

Elliot engulfs me in a hug, whispering in my ear that it'll be fine and Christian will come around quickly.

"How about we all go downstairs and talk about this," Grace suggests.

They give us a few minutes, which I take to try and fix my ruined makeup before having to face Carrick and Grace.

We are back in the family room where we started the night, but the mood is much heavier now than it was then.

"So now that we're all comfortable, please explain what happened?" Grace says, her eyes briefly looking towards the pictures still in my hands. Elliot and I quickly make eye contact, and he gives my hand a comforting squeeze. He is about to start talking, but I feel like I should explain as I basically came into their house tonight and chased away the younger son, so I start before he can.

"Last Friday, Elliot and Christian invited me out for breakfast with them, and when I first met Christian in the car, something about him seemed familiar, but I couldn't place it, so I just let it go. But then I went to visit my dad for the weekend, and while he finished some work, I was looking at all the photos he has in the living room. He has always been the kind of dad to take pictures of everything so he wouldn't forget anything, and he likes to move around the picture frames every few months. Anyways, I found an old photo of my mother, Carla standing with another young woman, who looked familiar. Turns out, she was my mother's sister, and she'd run away from home when she was around 16. According to my dad, her name was Ellaine, and no one knows what happened to her or why she ran away. I must have seen this picture growing up but never really put much thought into it until I realized why Christian was so familiar," I explained, handing Grace the old family photo.

Grace gasps as she looks at the photo and Carrick seems stunned. Their reactions make Mia get up from her seat so she can see the picture.

"Holy shit!" she exclaims.

"Mia, Language!" Grace scolds immediately, making me smile for the first time since we came back down here.

"I took Ana into Christian's room, to compare the photo to the one he has in there," Elliot explains.

"So you and Christian could be cousins?" Grace asks although I'm not sure if she expects an answer.

"Can't your mother tell you about your aunt or something?" Mia asks innocently, not knowing my relationship with my own mother.

"You don't have to answer that, baby." Elliot whisper, giving my hand another squeeze.

"Uhm No," I say, shaking my head, looking down at mine and Elliot's hands in my lap.

"Why not?" Mia counters.

"Mia!" Grace and Carrick both scold, obviously having understood the subtext.

"What?" she asks confused.

"My mother left my stepfather and me when I was a little girl. Although mentally, she was never really there, so there wasn't really a big difference," I say, shrugging my shoulders.

"Oh my God, I'm sorry!" Mia exclaims.

I can tell Grace is about to say something as well, so I quickly intervene.

"Really it's okay! My dad was always the one to take care of me growing up. Like I said, my mother was never really there and never really seemed to care anyway,"

"Oh, honey I'm so sorry! Also for Christian's reaction. He will calm down and let you explain all this, just give him a little time. Now, why don't we go enjoy some dinner," Grace says, trying to lighten the heavy air in the room.

We all agree and go to the dining room. I am beyond relieved about Elliot's parents' reaction, although Carrick was very quiet and didn't really say anything.

The rest of dinner goes well, and I really like Grace, she is everything a mother should be and a little bit more. Carrick remained quiet most of the dinner, only talking when spoken to, so I'm not entirely sure about him. 

Soon, Elliot and I are back in his car driving towards Seattle.

"I'm sorry about how my brother reacted," Elliot suddenly says.

"Elliot it's not your fault, and I'm pretty sure you're also upset about his reaction, whether you want to admit it or not,"

"I just wish he would have let us explain, instead of storming out," he sighs, running his hand roughly through his hair.

"It was obviously a big shock for him. It can't be easy to have something shoved in your face that you've spent most of your life trying to forget," I say, giving his knee a little squeeze, to tell him I'm here for him.

We both stay quiet the rest of the way back to Elliot's place. When we get back, I go to the bathroom to get ready for bed, while Elliot tries to call Christian a couple of times.

"Did you get ahold of him?" I ask when Elliot comes into the bedroom, where I'm sitting on the bed, plugging my phone in.

"No, I'll try him again tomorrow morning. That'll give him a little time as well," he says, stripping out of his clothes, only keeping on his boxers.

We both get into bed, and I quickly snuggle up against Elliot's side.

"It'll be okay, E.T," I say quietly.

"I know, Banana," he says, putting his arm around me and pulls me even closer to him.

I gave Elliot a kiss goodnight, but he had other plans. He deepened the kiss, his tongue sweeping across my lip, begging for entrance that I quickly gave him. Before long, Elliot is on top me, a hand on my lower back under the oversized t-shirt I wore for bed, and one hand pushing up the front of the shirt to get access to my breasts.

I wrap my legs around his waist as his mouth attacks my nipple while his fingers are pinching the other.

I whimper slightly as he bites my nipple followed up by his tongue to take the sting. I am shocked at how much I like it.

"Please," I beg him, needing him inside of me, I'm relentlessly bucking my hips trying to get some much-needed friction. Elliot groans against my breast before quickly sitting up on his knees and helping me out of my shirt and pulling my panties down my legs.

"God, you're so fucking beautiful, Banana." he groans, kissing his way up my stomach. When he finally reaches my face, he moves straight to the sweet spot under my ear. Those sensations combined with the dry-humping makes me cum instantly.

"Elliot!" I moan loudly, having lost any sense of control I might have had.

"Shit, you're so sexy when you cum, baby."

"Please El, I need you inside me! Please!" I whimper as my orgasm subsides.

Elliot lines up with my core and thrusts in hard, making both of us gasp loudly. He starts a fast and hard pace from the start, pounding into me like there's no tomorrow. He is holding himself up by his forearms, kissing and nibbling up and down my neck. This leaves his neck right above my mouth, so I start sucking and nibbling at the juncture of his neck, right on his pulse point, something I've learned he loves.

"Shit, baby! I need you to cum!" Elliot grunts, reaching down to pinch my clit. Waves and waves of pleasure roll over me and I scream out Elliot's name. My pussy spasming around him, milking him for all he's worth as he follows me into bliss, grunting out my name.

Elliot is laying on top of me as we try to catch our breaths. I have my fingers in his hair gently massaging his scalp, while his head is resting on my breast. Only minutes later, his breathing has slowed and deepened, so I know he's fallen asleep. It's not long until I fall asleep as well, exhaustion from everything that has happened today catching up with me.


	15. Chapter 15: Competition?

**Author's Note**

 **First of all, I'm SO SORRY for the months of silence. I've had a rough go of it, with first my great grandmother passing away and then just a few weeks later my grandpa taking a turn for the worse and also passing. It was unexpected and I had a really hard time with it, as I was very close to my grandpa! But I appreciate all the messages and comments so much! So thank you for that! I'm finally getting back to myself and decided it was time to get back to my story.**

 **So here you are, the next chapter of the story. It's a little shorter but it's better than nothing!**

 **As always follows, faves and comments are GREATLY appreciated!**

 **Enjoy! xx**

 **Elliot POV**

It's been over a week, almost two since everything went down with Christian at my parents' house. He's been ignoring all kinds of contact, including at GEH as he's been working from his home office since that night. He is not even answering mom or Mia's calls, who can usually always get a hold of him or at least get their calls returned quickly. I know mom is getting worried, but we've been assured by Taylor that he's eating and taking care of himself, so at least that's something.

Ana has been absolutely amazing. I know she's worried about everything, but she's pushed it aside and done everything possible to distract and reassure me. The only outward sign of her distress is the number of Reese's cups we've gone through. I swear, that girl can eat her weight in Reese's cups!

We've also had our first fight as I wanted to go to Escala and refuse to leave until he talked to me, but Ana convinced me that it might just make everything worse. She kept saying that he obviously needed to think through everything that had happened and probably make his own investigations. He was probably also going over his past and how he felt about it. Especially his birthmother.

Speaking of Ana, she started her new job at SIP this past Monday, and she seems to be loving it. We've been staying at her apartment for the past week as she had to get it unpacked. Thankfully, Kate won't be home for another two weeks!

I'm on my way to SIP right now to pick her up as we're having dinner with her friend Maddie tonight. I like Maddie so much better than Kate, and I do not understand why Kate is Ana's best friend and not Maddie. But Ana keeps saying how Kate has changed so much in the past few months. I just think she's a bitch.

I pull up right outside the entrance to SIP and text Ana.

 **Elliot: Im outside, baby.**

 **Ana: Great, I'm leaving right now :-***

After a minute or so, I see Ana coming out through the front door, and a few steps behind her is some sleazy ginger, who is blatantly staring at my girlfriend's ass. _What the actual fuck?!_ I get out of the car and greet Ana passionately. I'll admit it's partially to mark my territory, but who wouldn't after seeing that?

"Hey baby," I say, just before giving her an all-consuming kiss she won't forget any time soon. Our tongues are sensually dancing with each other, and we only pull apart when we desperately need to breathe.

"Hi," she manages to breathe out.

I lead her over to the passenger door and help her in, as she still a little shaky from our hello. I close her door and walk around to the driver's side, I sneak a quick glance at the creepy ginger, and he looks furious and jealous at the same time. Damn, I'm so happy that I drove my Lexus sportscar today. I get in and quickly drive towards Ana's place so we can get ready for dinner.

"So who was the guy leaving with you?" I ask, hoping I sound casual and **_not_** jealous and territorial!

"Someone left with me?" she asks, looking genuinely clueless.

"Yeah, some ginger guy with a man bun,"

"Hmm... that sounds like my boss, Jack Hyde. But I thought he had a lot more work. He asked me to stay later and help," she frowns.

Okay, what the actual fuck?! He asks her to stay late and yet goes home as well when she leaves at the usual time.

"Is he a good boss?" I ask as we weave through the afternoon rush.

"Yeah, he is okay."

Alarm bells are going off in my head. Something is definitely up with this guy. Since I've known her, she's always talked animatedly of other people, even those she's only just met.

We get to Ana's apartment and quickly get inside so we can shower and change our clothes before meeting up with Maddie. The other night, I suggested bringing one of my friends for Maddie as a casual double date, but Ana just laughed and said no. Leaving me confused as hell.

We take our shower together, something that has quickly become one of my favorite things. Not because it often leads to sex, although I love that too. It's just so intimate and personal.

As usual, lots of kisses are being shared as well as wandering hands exploring each other's bodies.

Her hand finds my already hard dick and gives it a little squeeze, which makes me bite down on her neck in an effort not to cum already. My fingers are playing with her nipples, I still can't believe how sensitive they are.

Soon we're both chasing our orgasms, she falls into oblivion as I suck on that secret spot on her neck that only I know about. Watching her makes me cross over into oblivion as well. And my god, I have never had more intense orgasms than I do with her.

"Fuck baby! You're so fucking amazing," I pant as I return to planet earth.

"Right back at you," she mumbles into my chest. Our bodies are still pressed together with Ana's back against the shower wall, which I'm pretty sure is the only thing keeping her upright.

After a few minutes, we've both regained control of our limps, so we get out and get ready to leave for the restaurant.

We invited Maddie to the Mile High Club, and I'm secretly hoping Christian might be there as I know he loves their steak.

 **Ana POV**

When we walk into the Mile High Club, the hostess greets us and openly undresses Elliot with her eyes despite me being right next to him and his hand resting very low on my back, practically groping my butt. I cough a little trying to get her damn eyes off of my boyfriend but it does nothing to deter her. At the same time, I hear Maddie saying my name and waving at us from a table by the windows. So we quickly take off in her direction and ignore the hostess.

"Ana!" Maddie squeals and rips me right out of Elliot's arms and into her own.

"Maddie! I can't believe you're finally here," I say squeezing her tight.

When we finally let go of each other, her and Elliot and greet each other. I know that Elliot likes Maddie a lot more than he does Kate, and considering how Kate has treated him, I don't really blame him. I'm not even sure how I feel about Kate anymore, but at the same time, I don't feel like I can let go either. She's been there for me through thick and thin up until these last few months. I know that something must have happened, but she won't talk to me about it, and I'm not sure how much more I can take.

"How are you liking Seattle?" Elliot asks as we take our seats. Elliot and I on one side of the table and Maddie across from me.

"I love it! My new roommate seems super cool, and apparently, she's rarely home on weekends as she usually spends it with her boyfriend. So I'll have the apartment all to myself," She says excitedly.

"Wow that sounds like a pretty good deal," Elliot says.

"Oh, that's so great Maddie! Where is your new apartment then?" I ask, hoping to God, it's close to mine.

"It's in the same area as yours! I checked on google maps earlier today, and we live just a few minutes by foot from each other," she squeals, loud enough to gather the attention of the tables closest to us, but we just ignore them.

"I guess we'll have to compete for Ana's attention then," Elliot chuckles as he takes a sip of wine.

Elliot has ordered a steak with sweet potato fries and spring vegetables while both Maddie and I have gone with fish.

"So I've got to ask. I suggested bringing one of my friends tonight so you could meet some new people here since you're new to the city. But Ana just said no and laughed at me. So what's the deal? Do you have a boyfriend already?" Elliot asks as we wait for our desserts. Maddie and I quickly sneak a glance at one another, and I can't help the smile on my face. Whenever I've thought about the night, Elliot asked me I burst out laughing.

"You were more than welcome to bring one of your friends, but I have a feeling they'd be a little disappointed," she says with a straight face, as she takes a sip of wine.

"What are you talking about? You're a pretty girl, and you have a great personality," Elliot says confused. Poor guy just does not get it.

"Well, let me explain it like this. You're not the first one at this table trying to get with our girl over here," she smirks. Of course, she would bring that up.

"Wait, what?! Are you saying, what I think you're saying? Okay, someone gotta tell me this story, like right now," he says, almost sounding excited.

"Well, it was freshman year, and we had most of our classes together. I'd noticed Ana from the start and found her utterly fascinating and after watching her ignore all the guys who were practically drooling over her. I thought maybe I had a shot. So I started talking her up, and she seemed interested in talking and hanging out and everything. But I could also tell she wasn't getting where I was going. So I straight up asked her if she'd go on a date with me and she looked like a fish out of the water," Maddie laughs, barely able to get the words out, and I can't help but laugh over the memory either. I really was shocked, and while I wasn't interested in the date, we became great friends.

"Shit, I really do have to compete with you over her attention," Elliot says.

"Nah I gave up on Ana switching sides years ago! Although I will admit I've gotten a little excited every time I've seen her turn down a guy," she smirks.

"You and me both," Elliot says, raising his glass to Maddie before finishing the entire thing.


	16. Chapter 16: Living up to Expectations

**Ana POV**

It's Monday morning, and I could really use another day of relaxation. I'm so not ready for work to start back up again despite having only been there for a week. I can't seem to relax or let my guard down around Jack, even though he hasn't done or said anything except maybe leaning in a little too close a few times. It's probably because I'm stressed about everything going on with Elliot's brother even though he hasn't made contact with anyone for two weeks.

"Good morning Ana. Any excitement this weekend?" Jack asks as he stops at my desk before entering his office.

"It was fine," I say, hoping he'll leave it at that.

"Nothing exciting happened?" he asks, winking like he a 16-year-old boy.

"Just spending time with my boyfriend."

"Boyfriend? Would that be the guy who picked you up Friday, when you couldn't stay late?"

"Uhmm... yes, that's him. Did you leave at the same time as me? I thought you were going to be working late?" I ask, remembering Elliot bringing it up as we were leaving.

"Uhmm... Yes, anyways you should get to work, you have a lot to make up for from Friday," he says curtly and retreats quickly to his office.

I get started on my work and try to forget about Jack and his weirdness.

Shortly after lunch, I get a call from Elliot, knowing it's probably important as he never calls me at work, I pick it up right away. We usually only text during the day, which is also much easier with his ever-changing schedule.

"Hi E.T."

"Hey baby, I've got some bad news. My last meeting with one of the new clients was just moved across town, so I'll probably be a little late picking you up. But no more than 30 minutes, I promise!" he says, sounding just as down about as I am.

"It's fine, don't worry. It'll give me a chance to catch up on some things from Friday."

"I'll text you when we're done, Banana," he promises.

"Just drive safe," I say and hang up the phone. At the same time, Jack comes out of his office, looking like a madman. His hair is all over the place, and the look on his face is enough to make me want to hide under my bed.

"No personal calls during business hours!" he sneers before turning back into his office, slamming his door so hard, I'm afraid the window in the door might break.

Oh please let Elliot's meeting end early...

It's 5 o'clock, and I'm hoping Jack will leave any minute and not stay late tonight, as I'm not sure how much more I can take of him today. He's been on me all day long, shouting and making demands. Hannah, one of the other assistants, has even noticed and questioned me about it.

"Good, you're still here, go make extra copies of these and bring them to my office for approval. I don't want you fucking anything up," Jack sneers before dumping a stack of papers on my desk. I'm really starting to reconsider whether a job in publishing is worth putting up with Jack. This is getting downright ridiculous.

It reminds me of pledge week in college, when freshmen tried to become members of some of the big sororities and fraternities. I never understood why the college allowed them to take it to the lengths they did. I've seen plenty of both guys and girls crying their eyes out because, despite everything they did, they didn't get in!

The copy room and kitchen are right next to each other, so I decide to make Jack a cup of coffee since he's obviously not leaving right away and hopefully it can cheer him up a bit. So while the copy machine goes to work, I go to the kitchen.

"The copier isn't in the kitchen," Jack sneers, scaring the life out of me.

"I know. I thought I'd make you a cup of coffee while the copy machine finishes up," I say, trying to keep my voice even, while I internally pray for Elliot to get here soon.

"Well at least, you're finally starting to live up to expectations," he says, as he leans against the door with his arms crossed.

"I'm going to get the copies now," I say, needing to escape this room and most of all, escape Jack. As I pass him, he leans in just a little and takes a deep breath through his nose followed by licking his lips. Oh my God, I think I might actually vomit. I can feel his eyes follow me to the copy room. As soon as I'm inside, I take a few deep breaths to calm myself down a little and quickly check my phone. It's 5:15, as soon as I've given Jack his things I'm getting out of here. I'd rather walk home than stay here one more minute alone with Jack.

I gather up all the papers in one arm, the coffee cup in my other hand, and hurry to Jack's office. Thankfully, he left his door open, as I'm not sure how I would've managed that without dropping something.

"Here's your coffee, these are the originals, and these are the copies," I tell him as I put everything down on his desk. He's leaned back in his chair with his elbows resting on the armrests and tenting his fingers while he looks at me. I'm not even sure he's heard anything I said.

"Before you leave for the night, there is something I want to talk to you about," Jack says as he gets up from his chair and walks towards the door that I left open.

 **Christian POV**

I still can't believe Flynn got me to do this, but he's convinced that talking to my brother's girlfriend, is somehow going to get me out of this funk and get over this. I've been hiding away in Escala for weeks, and I'm pretty sure Taylor and Gail have put some serious thought behind throwing me over the balcony. I know that I've acted like an ass, but that's who I am and why I pay my staff so well.

It's way past 5 pm, but I've yet to see her exit the building. I've been sitting out front for almost 30 minutes, and I don't do waiting.

"Screw this! Taylor, we're going inside." I bark, forcefully opening my car door and hurriedly walk into the building.

Taylor and I walk into the lobby of the building, but there is no one around, not even security. Who the fuck runs this place?! Thankfully, there is a building directory in the lobby, showing us where Jack Hyde's office is.

Taylor pushes the button for the elevator but after waiting for a few minutes and it still hasn't arrived, I've had enough.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me!" I say in a harsh tone. I practically run for the stairs, with Taylor trying to keep up with me. I didn't even want to do this, but I know deep down Flynn is right.

Thankfully we're only going to the second floor. The second we step out onto the floor, we can see why the elevator never came. Someone has put a chair inbetween the doors preventing them from closing. Suddenly we hear what sounds like a muffled scream from somewhere on this floor. Taylor quickly pushes me behind him before we run in the direction of the scream.

Taylor is about to open the door to where we think the scream came from when a mass of brown hair bursts out the door and straight into Taylor, causing her to fall backward, but Taylor has fast reflexes and manages to get a hold of her arm, to keep her from falling.

I recognize her right away and quickly pull her out of Taylor's grip and out of what looks like an office, while Taylor goes into the room to see what's happened.

"Anastasia, are you okay?" I ask, sitting her down in a nearby chair, probably her own. It's only now that I notice her clothes are ripped, and I have a pretty fucking good idea what happened in that office.

"I... I... He..." she tries, but all she seems to be able to do is sob. I try my best to comfort her, but what the hell do you do with a crying woman?! I've always kept myself out of situations like this. I get my phone out and call Elliot, yes that's a good idea.

"Listen, whoever this is, I really don't have time to talk right now, I..."

"El, it's me. You need to get to SIP right now!" I say interrupting him. Does he always answer his phone like that?!

"Christian? Is that really you? Wait, SIP? Dude, where are you?" he starts firing off questions.

"Yes it's me, and yes I'm at SIP, and you need to get your ass here now! Something has happened..."

"I'm pulling up outside, I'm supposed to pick up Ana. I'm coming right up," he says before hanging up.

"Anastasia, stay here, I'll be back in a second okay? Elliot is on his way up," I tell her gently.

"No no, please don't go! Please. I'm begging you, please" she cries out, digging her nails into my arm to keep me from leaving.

"Okay, I won't go," I concur, getting back down in front of her, rubbing her back in an attempt to comfort her. Though I'm pretty sure this is as awkward to her as it is to me.

 **Elliot POV**

I'm so late to pick up Ana, and I'm absolutely furious. That idiot kept going over the same things and asking the same questions over and over.

RIING RIIIING... Ugh not now, I do not have time for whoever this is, Ana is waiting for me, and I'm almost at her work.

"Listen, whoever this is, I really don't have time to talk right now, I..." I start before I'm interrupted by the most unexpected voice.

"El, it's me. You need to get to SIP right now!"

"Christian? Is that really you? Wait, SIP? Dude, where are you?" I ask, completely dumbfounded.

"Yes it's me, and yes I'm at SIP, and you need to get your ass here now! Something has happened..." I feel my blood run cold. If something has happened at SIP, it has to be Ana. Fuck, this is not happening!

"I'm pulling up outside, I'm supposed to pick up Ana. I'm coming right up,"

I jump out of the car and run inside, going straight for the stairs, taking two steps at a time. I can feel my heart pounding, the blood rushing in my ears, so I can't hear anything but own thoughts. My palms are sweating like crazy. She can't be hurt, she has to be okay, I keep chanting to myself.

I burst through the door once I reach the second floor. I can hear some low whimpers and sniffles and run towards the sound. Nothing could have prepared me for the sight of Ana sitting in a chair, her clothes ripped and my brother awkwardly trying to comfort her.

"Ana, baby!" I say running to her and gathering her in my arms. Christian looks almost grateful and quickly steps out of the way.

"It's okay, I'm here," I try to comfort but her tears are coming faster and harder as sobs wrack through her body, while she's clutching my shirt in her hands. I lift her off the chair and sit down in it with her in my lap. After what feels like hours, but is probably just a few minutes, I can hear multiple people coming towards us. I quickly look up and see two cops and two paramedics walking towards us. Thank fuck Christian is here and thought to call them! Christian comes out of the office next to where I am sitting with Ana and guide the cops into office, while the paramedics walk over to Ana and me. The female paramedic comes over and squats down in front of us while her partner stays back.

"What's her name?" She quietly asks me.

"Anastasia Steele," I tell her.

"Anastasia, my name is Alexis, and I'm a paramedic. Can you tell me if you're injured or hurting anywhere?" she asks in a soothing tone, not too different from the one you would use with a child.

"I don't think so," Ana hiccups while drying her tears.

"Would mind if I looked you over real quick, just to make sure?"

"No, that's fine," Ana whispers.

After skillfully checking Ana over while she's still seated in my lap, she tells us that it looks like Ana got away with only some bruises and a few scratches, but she still has to come to the hospital to get a more thorough check-up and to also photograph her injuries and ripped clothes for the police report.

One of the police officers come out of the office and goes over to the male paramedic, who quickly follows him into the office with the gurney. The police officer comes back out and approaches us.

"Hello Ms. Steele, I'm officer Martin, and I'm in charge of your case. Mr. Taylor and Mr. Grey have both given us their account from when they arrived tonight. My partner and I will take your statement at the hospital after you've been looked over by a doctor. Now Mr. Hyde needs immediate medical attention, so the ambulance and my partner are taking him to the hospital as we speak and another ambulance should be here any second to take you to Seattle Grace Hospital. Is that okay?"

"Do I have to go in an ambulance?" Ana asks quietly, as she stares at Hyde, who is being wheeled out of the office and towards the elevators.

"Yes, it's protocol. But someone can go with you if you want," he smiles at her.

Ana just nods and curls herself into me further, and I just keep murmuring comforting words to her. While we wait for the new ambulance for Ana, I see Taylor and Christian on the other side of the room speaking in hushed tones, and as though Christian can feel me looking at him. He turns to look at us and gives me a subtle nod while mouthing he called mom. Thank god! I didn't even think to do that.

Soon Ana is being loaded into the back of an ambulance, and I follow her into it while keeping a hold of her hand. She is shaking so bad now that the adrenaline has left her body, so the medics have wrapped her in several blankets.

They close the doors, and soon we are on our way.


	17. Chapter 17: Are We Done Here?

**Author's Note:**

 **First of all, I'm so sorry for the (very) late update, but it is here. It has been a long way coming, but I do intend to finish this story as well as other story ideas I have. So please hang in there. And thank you to all those who haven't given up on me.**

 **As always, reviews are greatly appreciated!**

 **Enjoy reading! xx**

 **Elliot POV**

Ana fell asleep in the ambulance, going to the hospital, which freaked me out. What if she was injured after all?!

The medic must have seen my face, as he quickly calmed me down.

"She's okay. It's just the adrenalin leaving her body."

I nod thankfully, and take her hand between mine and hold it to my lips. I may think of my brother as a control freak, but right now, I can see his side of things. I hate this feeling of helplessness and would do just about anything to get rid of it.

We arrive at the hospital, and when we enter the emergency room, I can see my mom waiting for us.

Mom and the medics talk as they take Ana into a room, while a nurse makes me wait outside in the waiting room. Fuck!

"She's my girlfriend, please just let me go in there!"

"I'm sorry, sir, but I can't. You're going to have to wait out here, while the doctor checks her out," she says and leaves me standing there like an idiot. I take a seat, and Christian joins me as he hands me a cup of coffee. We both just sit there staring into nothing.

"What were you doing at SIP, Christian?" I ask him. I have wondered about this since he called me.

"Not now, Elliot," he sighs and runs his hand through his hair. A surefire sign that he is not okay. Whether he is frustrated, angry, upset, or something else, that is the real question.

"Yes, now!" I tell him, frustrated.

"You have ignored everyone for weeks, so it's time to talk!" I continue. I'm not going to let him slip away to his castle in the skies this time.

He stands up and abandons his coffee in his seat while he paces in front of me and runs his hand through his hair.

Just as he's about to speak, mom comes over and tells me Ana is awake and that I can go in and she'll be there in a minute. I give my brother one last look that says this conversation is far from over, before I leave him and mom in the waiting room, while I go find Ana.

 **Ana POV**

I must have fallen asleep in the ambulance because when I open my eyes again, all I see is a white ceiling rolling by. I look to the side and see Grace and immediately feel a little more at ease, but when I turn to look the other way I don't see Elliot but a nurse pushing my bed, so I turn back to Grace.

"Where is Elliot?" I ask her.

"Hi darling, don't worry, you'll see him soon. We just have to make sure you're okay first, and then I promise you, he'll be back. Okay?" she asks, as they've situated the bed I'm on in an examination room. I just nod and hope this will be over quickly.

"Okay, now we need to get you changed into this lovely outfit, and then I will bag your clothes as evidence for the police. Do you need help changing, or can you manage?" Grace smiles kindly while holding up a hospital gown for me.

"I'll manage," I say as I try to return her smile.

As I get out of my clothes, I realize just how ruined they are. Not a single item is still in one piece. I try to put it out of mind and get into this ridiculous one size paper gown, but I just want to curl up and have a long cry and eat as many Reese's cups as I can find.

Grace comes back with the nurse who was pushing my bed along with Grace earlier, and Grace introduces her as Alison.

"Okay, Ana. Now we're going to get your checked over and make sure you're physically okay. Then the police are going to want to take your statement about what happened tonight. But let's not worry about that just now." Grace says before they get started.

Grace and Alison get started and examine me, asking me a few questions here and there.

After what feels like hours, Grace finally deems that I'm okay, and got away with some nasty bruises and some scratches.

"Ana, the police is here, and they need to take your statement. Do you want anyone to be with you while you talk to them?"

"Is Elliot still here?" I ask quietly.

"Of course he is, sweetheart. He wouldn't go anywhere without you. How about I go get him, and then I'll send in the officer in 10 minutes?" She says kindly. I quickly nod and hope this won't take long. I just want to go home and forget this day ever happened.

"Hi baby," Elliot says as he comes through the door just minute or two later. And just like that, I break down and start sobbing again. Elliot has me wrapped in his arms in seconds, whispering that he's here and everything will be okay. I just hold on to him while I continue crying.

 **Elliot POV**

It is taking everything in me to not cry along with Ana, but she needs me to be strong enough for both of us right now.

After a few minutes mom comes in and tells us that officer Martin and his partner Reyes are here to take Ana's statement. Ana quickly wipes her eyes and takes a few deep breaths trying to get herself under control.

"It's going to be okay, baby" I whisper before I kiss her temple.

Then officer Martin steps into the room with his partner who I remember seeing at SIP as well.

"Good evening Miss Steele and Mr. Grey," Martin says.

Ana just nods at them while I shake their hands before returning my hand to hold Ana's hand.

"Now Miss Steele, all we need at this moment is your statement from the events today, do you think you can help us with this now?" Officer Martin asks not unkindly.

"Can you please call me, Ana?" She asks gently.

"Of course. Now can you walk us through what happened today with your boss Mr. Hyde."

Just hearing his name makes Ana flinch and in turn, causing me to clench my jaw.

"The day began like any other day... When Jack came in, he asked me how my weekend had been, and I said it was fine. He pushed for more details, even winked at me..." she stops while she shivers. Fuck I don't know if I can hear this and stay calm!

"I told him that I'd just been spending time with my boyfriend, and it seemed sour his mood. He told me to get started since I was behind because I couldn't stay late last Friday, and then he went into his office and shut the door," she says and takes a deep breath before she continues.

"He usually always has his door open unless in a meeting or if he's angry." She says.

"I managed to avoid him until lunch when Elliot called me. We talked for less than two minutes, but the second I hung up, he was right next to my desk sneering about no personal calls during work, before he went back into his office slamming the door so hard, you could hear class shaking," she whispers as she wipes away a single tear. Shit, this is so hard to hear!

"He spent the rest of the day hustling me and shouting. Hannah, one of the other assistants, even noticed and asked me about it. When it was 5 o'clock, I was hoping he'd go home, but he came out of his office and asked me to make some copies of some papers and then take them to him for approval." she says and takes a few deep breaths before she continues.

"The copy room and kitchen are next to each other, so I thought I'd get him a cup of coffee while the copy machine did its thing. He showed while my back was turned and growled that the copier wasn't in the kitchen. He stayed in the doorway and made some comment about me finally living up to expectations while he looked me up and down," Ana has silent tears falling from her eyes. I'm trying to wipe, but they just keep coming.

"I ignored it and told him I would go get the copies now. He stayed in the doorway, and when I walked past him to go to the copy room, he leaned into me. I tried to gather myself in the copy room and calm down. I checked my phone to see what time it is and if I'd gotten a text from Elliot. I decided that when I'd given Jack his things, I was leaving no matter what." Her tears are coming faster now, and I'm seriously struggling to keep it together.

I can see that both of the officers are taking detailed notes as well as recording Ana's statement.

"I went into his office and gave him the papers and the coffee cup. After a few seconds of him just staring at me, he got up from his chair and walked towards the door as he said, he needed to discuss some things with me before I left. I completely froze. I couldn't move even though my mind was screaming at me to get out. He circled me like some kind of prey talking about how I wasn't thankful enough for getting the job. He ran his hand down my arm, and that seemed to shake me out of my frozen state, so I tried to push him away, but he managed to grab my arms and twist so I was pushed up against the door. His right arm was against my neck, keeping me in place, and he used his body to keep me immobile against the door. And then his left hand started ripping my clothes while he started kissing my face, neck, and shoulders. He even bit my ear." Fuck! I'm not sure who is shaking more right now. Me or Ana. Although for two very different reasons.

"He kept touching me, and he was trying to touch me down there, but I managed to move my legs, and this was also when I got the shot to knee him. So I did. With every ounce of power, I could find. He went down, and I managed to unlock the door as when I opened it, someone opened it from the outside, causing me to fall. But they managed to catch my arm, so I didn't fall. Everything is kind of blurry after that. I just remember sitting in my chair and Elliot's brother Christian being next to me, and then later Elliot." She finished as she is back to sobbing and leaning her face into the crook of my neck again.

"Are we done here?" I ask. I'm not sure how much more Ana can take right now.

"Can I just ask you one more question, Ana?" Officer Martin asks carefully. Ana nods and looks back at him with her bloodshot eyes.

"Have you ever felt uncomfortable around your boss before today?"

"Yeah... He tends to always stand a little to close, invading any kind of personal space. And just the way he looks at you, like a piece of meat." she answers.

"I think that's all for now. This is my card. If you think of anything else that might be relevant, please call me." Officer Martin says as he hands each of us his card and quickly shakes our hands before making his exit.


End file.
